GameTavern - America Votes 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason1 (Post 241270)

No, I really am somewhat curious as to how taxing a dead rich guy could possibly hurt the middle class and poor people. Im allready calling conservative bullshit on whatever you post next, but I'll at least read it.

LOL! Well, thanks for the courtesy. The reason why estate taxes work in reverse of what you think is this:

Estate taxes don't tax dead people, they tax the inheritors and prevent the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next and taxes the same money twice as taxes have already been paid on that estate. Here's how it works, at least in the case of my family.

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My parents and grandparents bought into the rural suburbs of Philadelphia back in the late 1960's. My parents were not what you would call rich, my father being a construction worker and my mom a teacher/social worker. My grandfather and grandmother worked at a non-profit trade school.

My parents bought their house for $36,000.00 on 5 acres and that was a stretch for them at the time, and my grandparents bought about 20+ acres for not that much more.

When my grandmother died, my parents inherited the land and had to pay taxes on the value of the property at its current value, not what they were lucky enough to pay in 1968. So when estate taxes, federal, state and local income tax, capital gains, and every other tax were levied on my parents, they owed well over $100,000.00, if not more (they never told me the final amount).

So this "harmless" tax system, that only effects the "rich", forced my middle income parents to take out a second mortgage to cover the taxes that were due in a few motnhs, and then to pay off the taxes my parents had to sell my grandmother's farm which had been in the family for 30 years.

Guess who bought the property? A rich developer who then sub-divided the land, leveled the house that was built in 1706, and slapped up 15 McMansions all next to each other and made millions off of the deal.

So in essence, the estate taxation system combined with all the rest of the taxes ripped wealth from the middle class and handed it to the rich. This is what progressive taxes achieve: The status quo.

Keep in mind, I'm not even mentioning how the local government tried to ruin the whole deal, the deal my parents needed to pay the taxes to keep their house, by extorting the developer for 10 free acres. This is just about how taxes fucked my parents by forcing them to sell and probably thousands of people in the same circumstances.

Taxes on investment wealth prevent the transfer of wealth from generation to the next, and they force people to do things they otherwise would not. My parents wanted to turn the property into a horse farm. Now its an eyesore filled with yuppie douchebags who complain about the fact they can see my dad's work truck from the road. When you work all your life to leave your children with more than you had, it should be a blessing to them, not a curse that creates a financial nightmare spanning two years of lawyers, accountants, developers and local and federal agancies.

Jason, I'd just like you to keep this in mind when thinking about taxes and government control, supporting them because they're intended to do good: Actions always have unintended circumstances and intentions are meaningless when reality comes knocking.