{"id":135050,"date":"2017-10-10T08:59:29","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T14:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=135050"},"modified":"2017-10-11T08:49:13","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T14:49:13","slug":"eliminating-estate-tax-terrible-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/10\/10\/eliminating-estate-tax-terrible-mistake.html","title":{"rendered":"Eliminating the estate tax is a “terrible mistake”"},"content":{"rendered":"

That’s not some rabble-rousing radical on a soap box in Berkeley saying that. That’s the investment banker who’s in second place on Forbes’ billionaire list (after Bill Gates).<\/p>\n

For all that the GOP has long tried to brand it as a “death tax” that affects everyday people, small business owners and farmers and families just trying to help their next generation of struggling entrepreneurs get through college, the impact of the estate tax is minuscule: 5,000 estates out of the 2.4 million people who will die this year. An individual can leave an estate this year of nearly $5.5 million before the tax starts to kick in on the rest<\/a>; a married couple can leave nearly $11 million. Only after that amount is passed on does the 40% tax start to kick in on estate value above that.<\/p>\n

Or, put another way, the only people who save money if the estate tax is repealed are people who are leaving, as individuals, more than $5.5 million to their heirs. That’s not exactly the “little guy” that Trump and the GOP say they’re trying to help. That’s — well, folk like Trump, who could then pass on over a billion dollars more<\/i> to his heirs when he goes to his eternal reward.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n
\n<\/a>
\nWarren Buffett says eliminating the estate tax is a ‘terrible mistake’<\/a><\/span>
\nBuffett says the estate tax impacts only a small percentage of Americans, so getting rid of it would not have widespread effects.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That’s not some rabble-rousing radical on a soap box in Berkeley saying that. That’s the investment banker who’s in second place on Forbes’ billionaire list (after Bill Gates). For all that the GOP has long tried to brand it as a “death tax” that affects everyday people, small business owners and farmers and families just … Continue reading “Eliminating the estate tax is a “terrible mistake””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,358,376],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-poor-citizenship","category-taxing-spending"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Warren-Buffett.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":135505,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/12\/03\/whos-breathing-easy-end-estate-tax.html","url_meta":{"origin":135050,"position":0},"title":"Who’s breathing easy at the end of the Estate Tax?","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 3-Dec-17 11:46pm","format":false,"excerpt":"If you earn a big chunk of money from working, you owe taxes on it. Similarly, if you get a really, really, really big chunk of money as an inheritance, you should owe taxes on it, too. That's the basic principle of the estate tax. It's not a \"death tax.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/1060x600-17f1745ad040131aa0dc68ca0a7a0ce31.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/1060x600-17f1745ad040131aa0dc68ca0a7a0ce31.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/1060x600-17f1745ad040131aa0dc68ca0a7a0ce31.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/1060x600-17f1745ad040131aa0dc68ca0a7a0ce31.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/1060x600-17f1745ad040131aa0dc68ca0a7a0ce31.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":135259,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/11\/02\/gop-house-unveils-tax-cut-plan-will-cost-1-5-trillion-dollars.html","url_meta":{"origin":135050,"position":1},"title":"GOP House unveils a tax cut plan that will cost $1.5 trillion dollars","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 2-Nov-17 9:36am","format":false,"excerpt":"While some of the scarier bits that had been floated as ideas have gone away, there, still plenty of goofiness in this plan, which largely benefits the most wealthy, because that's what they paid for with the GOP. It's worth noting that none of this is final -- further GOP\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/paul-ryan.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":131708,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/10\/02\/donald-trump-master-of-losing-gob-tons-of-money.html","url_meta":{"origin":135050,"position":2},"title":"Donald Trump: Master of Losing Gob-Tons of Money","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 2-Oct-16 1:51pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So one thing that's been \"hidden\" in Trump's tax returns (which themselves have been hidden, but apparently someone has passed a 1995 return on to the New York Times) is that Trump lost such an amazing amount of money for that year, nearly a billion dollars, that he was able\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50107,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/04\/17\/the-rich-seeking-to-get-richer.html","url_meta":{"origin":135050,"position":3},"title":"The rich seeking to get richer","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 17-Apr-15 12:30am","format":false,"excerpt":"The US estate tax is a 40% tax rate assessed against estates transfers in excess of $5.4 million for individuals and $10.9 million for couples who pass on.Let me put that another way -- if you pass away , the tax kicks in only after your heirs receive the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133464,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/12\/donald-releases-his-tax-returns-um-no-i-mean-his-tax-lawyers.html","url_meta":{"origin":135050,"position":4},"title":"Donald releases his tax returns. Um, no, I mean his tax lawyers","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 12-May-17 10:31am","format":false,"excerpt":"Donald Trump refuses to release his tax returns, still, but in an effort to defuse criticism, had his lawyers issue a letter saying there wasn't much Russian money involved in his income.'President Trump\u2019s lawyers say his income tax returns do not show income from Russian sources or debt owed to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18719,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/09\/27\/ben-stein-is-a-dolt.html","url_meta":{"origin":135050,"position":5},"title":"Ben Stein is a Dolt","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 27-Sep-10 11:42am","format":false,"excerpt":"Maybe I need to create a new \"Dolts\" category for the blog. It's a word I'm using a lot these days. Latest-greatest is about Ben Stein, who you may remember as the ultra-boring teacher in Ferris Beuller's Day Off, or the ultra-boring guy on the Visene commercials, or perhaps the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Economy"","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/economy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/MarginalIncomeTax.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135050"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135067,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135050\/revisions\/135067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}