Friday, August 04, 2006

This reminds me of Nelson Rockefeller...

...who was alleged to have said to some aids back in the 1950s something to the effect of "Now, you take the average guy, who is making $150,000 a year..."

The Wall Street Journal editorializes on possible compromises in the effort to repeal the death tax: "On the plus side, estates under $10 million would be exempt from tax beginning in 2016. And estates between $10 million and $25 million would pay a 15% rate. This would help a great many middle-class savers and entrepreneurs who've managed to sock away a nest egg or build a small business over their lifetimes."

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I am no great advocate of the death tax, but I do have some qualms about the long term effects of allowing the creation of a large hereditary economic elite whose wealth has no connection to production. I think many would see their self interest in promoting status quo government economic policies rather than a competitive economy, and all too many would be flat out socialist. Take your pick: Multi-millionaire fascists for stasis or multi-millionaires against capitalism. A growing number of such people, many with hundreds of millions of dollars or even billions, could well have extremely negative effects on the country.

I have yet to see any advocates of repeal address that issue.