Although life is not fair and not everyone start out poor, that doesn’t meant they don’t deserve their money. My parents came to this country with nothing more than clothes on their back. They worked hard, save a lot, to give me the opportunities that they did have. I then in turn work hard to build on my family’s wealth to give my children the opportunities I never had. Although my children didn’t directly earned the money they got to start out with, their parents and grand parents earned that money. So I think they’re entitled to that money.
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Same story here…mom was a dirt-broke immigrant (grew up VERY poor during WWII in Austria) who worked her way up. Dad worked his way up after growing up on a chicken farm in Arkansas during the Great Depression. Can’t get much more broke than that! 😉 They both worked their way through college and lived exceedingly frugal lives so that their kids could have better lives than they did.
I am adamantly opposed to inheritance tax because that money was already taxed when it was originally earned. There is no new transaction when money is kept within the family.
OTOH, capital gains earned on this money should be taxed at a higher rate, or at least taxed at the same rate as labor. I personally favor a progressive tax because it is too easy to funnel money to the wealthiest people when they have tremendous, income-earning wealth. This creates imbalances in our economy that are NOT healthy for society at large.
Additionally, I’m opposed to “steeping-up” the cost basis of inherited assets. We need to pick one or the other: higher inheritance taxes OR keep the true cost basis.
Basically, the “wealth” that I rail against is the type gained via the mingling of politicians and corporatists. It is this kind of greed/wealth/power-seeking that is driving this country into the ground, IMHO.
