Gingrich: I will abolish the death tax

In an energetic appeal for support, Newt Gingrich stood before 4000 onlookers at the Oral Roberts University Mabee Center and proclaimed a message reminiscent of his 1994 “Contract with America” campaign. He progressed through issues including energy, healthcare, the economy, foreign policy, and declared Obama the “most dangerous president in modern American history.”

While explaining his plan to rebuild the shattered economy, he announced that, if elected, he would abolish the “death tax.” Meaning, he would offer legislation repealing the estate tax. The logic is that heavily taxing estates, eviscerates family wealth and forces more people into the public welfare system.

In 2013, an estate will be subject to a 50% tax on any property in excess of one million dollars. Take, for example, a family that has fifty-thousand dollars in savings and owns a small electrical business valued at 1.7 million dollars. If the business is owned in the father’s name, upon his death, the family will owe three-hundred and fifty thousand dollars in estate taxes. Only having fifty-thousand dollars in savings, the family will be forced to liquidate their business.

This removes their income and forces both the family and the employees into unemployment. The government is no longer receiving tax revenue from their business and paying more people unemployment checks. In short, everyone loses.

In an interview with the speaker following the event, Gingrich was asked if he feels a sense of awe about where he has arrived in life. Gingrich responded with unusual candor and personal reflection when he told a descriptive tale of himself standing on the balcony of the Capitol Building on the morning of his swearing-in as Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Click here to see the video on YouTube.

Citing the influence of his father, “a career soldier,” he explained his feelings towards his journey from meager beginnings to his current position. He described how he doesn’t lose heart because “America has been so good to” him and how he felt “privileged to live as an American.”

In his speech, Gingrich described his campaign experience as a "roller coaster." He has held the lead in the national polls on two separate occasions, and he is currently trailing behind Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. He emphasized that the most important part of this race is to prevent Obama from being reelected.

WOOT! YES!

Of all the Taxes, in all the Progressives Play Book, the Death Tax (to me at least) is the most insidious, disgusting and slap in the face to every citizen of the Republic.

(But Wait, only the Rich pay death tax) Yeah, after a life time of building up assets, guess what, if you have a Million Bucks to leave to your posterity, the Government comes in and goes "Snatch" they take 30, 40, even 60 percent in some places.

Go Newt!

What was disturbing to me was that in Newt’s CPAC speech when he said this, it got a loud, almost deafening cheer from the audience. Nothing else he said got even close to that much of a cheer. It seems to indicate that the CPAC attendees, most of whom who voted for Romney, are those Rockefeller trust-fund baby Republicans who are in this party solely for the low taxes and not so much for any of the social, cultural and military issues. Of everything Newt said in his speech, that would have been the only proposal which I wouldn’t have cheered or jeered for that matter.

All I can say for sure is that inheritances and lottery winnings should be taxed the identical way, because they are virtually exactly the same thing. I always thought it was crappy when someone won a big, expensive sports car, then had to pay so much tax on it that they couldn’t hope to keep it, but would have to sell it to pay the tax. Of course, if you said only cash would be taxed, then everyone in America would start having their income paid in the form of goods instead.

At the same time, I don’t see the cultural argument as very compelling. Where exactly in the American dream does it talk about someone never having to work a day in their life or develop any skills and still get to inherit a fortune? Why should someone who works and earns a paycheck have to give some of their money to the government, while someone who never worked gets to keep 100% of the money they’re given? Obviously these questions are a good argument for abolishing the income tax, in which case we wouldn’t even need to worry about where people got their money.

As long as the income tax remains, I’d rather see an inheritance tax closer to the income tax in some way at least. Certainly not at levels higher than that. An actual business which has been generating revenue should never have to be liquidated. Couldn’t someone just sell their business to their kids for a dollar or something to avoid that anyway? Nevertheless it would be an inherently stupid system if I have to pay tax on every dollar I earn at my job, but if my company’s owner died and left me his fortune, I wouldn’t have to pay any tax at all. An inheritance tax makes more sense than most other taxes do, because it does much less to encourage or discourage behavior (i.e. social engineering) as compared to an earned income, sales or property tax.

I am so with New on this. Hubby and I work very hard. My company is getting punished with high taxes. What money we can save, once we pass on, we hope our son doesn’t have to be taxed again from the government since we already made the capital and paid tax. Why would anyone be against this is beyond me. Maybe liberals who think a working man or woman who makes more, should redistribute their income even after death. Young people I suspect don’t get it since most are still searching for a career and lack maturity. Yes, end that death tax scheme-stop re taxing the income.

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