Tuscaloosa News Opposes Death Tax Repeal

On Monday's editorial page, the Tuscaloosa News criticized Sen. Jeff Sessions' bill to end the estate tax, appropriately known as the "death tax," saying that "Sessions' bill for rich to get richer is misguided."

Republicans, demonstrating their gift for politically useful language, call what little is left of the tax after several years of cuts the “death tax."

And now Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions is joining the fray, which is about much, much more than linguistics, with a bill that would make complete repeal of the estate/death tax retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year. That is much sooner than a similar bill introduced by other GOP senators that would repeal the tax, which now applies only to inheritances of more than $1.5 million, in 2010.

Last year the government, which has racked up record amounts of deficit spending under President George W. Bush, collected $24.1 billion in much-needed cash from the tax on inheritances, which in many cases simply fattened some dubious accounts.

"Dubious accounts?" How is leaving wealth to one's heirs more "dubious" than having it confiscated by the federal government? When someone dies, their accumulated wealth above $1.5 million is subject to an estate tax exceeding 45%. As the Heritage Foundation's William W. Beach has noted, that level of taxation results in several detrimental effects to the economy:

• It discourages savings and investment
• It undermines job creation and wage growth
• It prevents the economy from achieving investment potential
• It contradicts central promise of American life: wealth creation.

Here's a suggestion - the editors of the T-News should go see their lawyers this week, and make an addition to their wills: "Effective upon my death, I hereby bequeath 50% of the value of my estate to the federal government, to be used for whatever purpose that the politicians in Washington, D.C. see fit." Then, they should encourage their elitist pals to do the same. Maybe the liberals have a chance to save Social Security after all.