Long Overdue Outrage Over the Anti-Estate Tax Crowd

[1]Both the New York Times and the Washington Post ran lead editorials this morning denouncing the attempt of Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to give yet another tax cut to the children of the very richest Americans. Both editorials are spot on and raise excellent points about why Sens. Lincoln and Kyl seem to be both out of touch and out of their minds. In fact, both editorials express far more outrage and disdain for this proposed tax cut than I've ever seen before in any newspaper. (Read the Times [2] and Post [3] editorials.)

The Times calls the Lincoln/Kyl proposal a "colossal waste of time" when there is far more serious work to be done. The Post calls it "outrageous and nonsensical" and believes it would make more sense to return to the 2001 level for the estate tax, when only the first $2 million of estates was exempt from any tax. Ask any senator if that proposal is a good idea and they'll laugh you out of the room.

Yet we feel a disturbing number of senators, Democrats and Republicans, are considering supporting the proposal, particularly if it is paid for. Both editorials tackle this point and state that any senator even considering supporting this amendment is essentially on record that the tax bills of the heirs of multi-millionaires are a higher priority than the millions of middle class families who are struggling to afford food, shelter, health care, education, and other urgent priorities. They couldn't be more right.

I assume editorials in the Times and the Post will certainly not sway the feelings of Sens. Lincoln and Kyl, considering those two long ago abandoned rationality and fairness on this issue. But there are a host of new Senators this year who have never cast a vote on the issue of the estate tax. They have to decide if, during the greatest economic turmoil of our lifetimes, they think the top 0.2 percent of the richest families in America are those who deserve some extra help right now, or if it is the other 99.8 percent. It's an easy choice folks - don't over think it.

Image by Flickr user hellofaboy [4] used under a Creative Commons license.