I dont think the costs ever are going to come down without serious govt intervention in that market.



Thats when the costs started up..

A couple of things:

First, I get sick and tired of hearing how the taxpayers paid to bail out banks during the recession.  Those were loans, not gifts.  They have been repaid, and in some instances, such as when the Treasury took shares of companies in addition to making the loans, the gov't has gotten a huge profit.  Nothing wrong with that, let's just not twist the facts.

Next, what is "rich"?  To a poor Mexican peon or slum dweller in Rio, $5,000 per year is beyond his wildest imagination.

For Americans, what is rich?  Income test or asset test?

Yes, those very few who are at the top of the Fortune 100 list, measured by assets held, probably inherited their wealth, such as the Walton hiers, and the like.

But if your definition of rich gets down to those whose wealth is measured, say, at around $50 Million or less, most of them earned it themselves in the first generation.

A big problem is on the horizon again, at that's the effect on farmers of increasing land values.  Forget real estate taxes, I mean inheritance taxes.  If the fiscal cliff isn't resolved, the amount of an estate that isn't taxed is only $1 Million, and all over $1 Million is taxed at 55%. The exemption is currently $5 Million.

With land values in Iowa farm country hitting $14,000 per acre in some autumn land sales, $1 Million is 71.4 acres of land.  A farmer can't even earn a mediocre living on a farm that small.  So, asset tests of wealth are stupid and horribly unfair.

All asset tests of wealth are stupid, at least using the results to tax inheritances.  Ohio finally saw the light, and our state death tax has been eliminated, beginning 1/1/13.  So don't die in Ohio for the next 27 days.

One's assets are purchased, in the lifetime of the one who first acquired them, with after tax dollars.  Why, then should that person's estate, and the estates of all of his generations of heirs after him, pay the gov't again?  Totally illogical to have any inheritance tax.

Why should the gov't get 55% of the value of the farm from my wife's grandfather's estate, then again from her father's estate, and lastly, again from her own estate?  See how dumb that it?  It's legalized theft.

The same logic applies to any business - maybe a family hardware store, restaurant, or whatever.

The farm based exemption goes away withthe fiscal cliff.  Even though we're farmers, why is it fair that farms be treated differently than a family owned restaurant?  Because the farm lobby is far stronger than the restaurant association.

Like other liberals, you divert the discussion - tell me how an inheritance tax is logical, fair, or sensible - please stay on point.  We're not talking at all about job creation - we're talking about inheritance tax, and its inherent fallacy.

I'm sitting in a McDonalds in Dumas, TX as I write this. There is nothing around here except farms and ranches. Whole darn area looks like a scene out of Tremers.... Of course this is Texas so they have some perspective, but you're correct; if this were other states and the owner of one of these farms died, tell me what justification is there for Uncle Sam getting ANYTHING? Death tax should be just that, dead.

Sri I hope you're right. She has a head on her shoulders and she knows how to speak the truth!

WebsterMark wrote on 12/04/12 at 19:05:56:

Romney was such a straight talker... ...

I think webster will cling to the repug's no matter what ...

In India there is a saying ... Loosely translated it goes like this - Guess who the last communist in the world will be ... and the answer is ... well It can be Bose, Banerjee, chaterjee, Mazumdar any/all are considered correct and funny.

This is what it means ... People with those last names are from west bengal. Yes the man that developed Bose speakers was an ex-pat Injun called Amar Bose who migrated to US is the 50's and setup a speaker shop in the 60's etc etc ... anyway, those guys in west bengal have elected a communist leader in every election ever. The 2 prominent parties (and we have a multi party system in India with coalitions and what not galore ... anyway the 2-3 top parties are all communist in west bengal.

Anyway I am hoping Warren will start to put a bite on wall street ... so far I am so glad she sent Brown down the tubes. Hey, she took the browns to the super bowl ...

Closing of loopholes will be a freaking noose aorund the middle class, and let the rich slip away scott free ... why ? the middle class spend more of their $$$ on their house payments ... that is a loophole they want to close ... why not just shoot the middle class. Its easier and faster.

Cool.
Srinath.