There is a common saying that there is only two certainties in life: death and taxes. The estate tax combines both into one event.

What is the estate tax? Upon death, the government will tax (or to some people confiscate) a certain percentage depending on the size of the estate and certain marital exclusions before it reaches the person's heirs. The insidious fact about estate taxes is that the money was already taxed as income once before...the government is simply nudging its way back to the trough for another feeding. I believe that death should not be a taxable event!

Why should we care? Well, first it sends the wrong message to people. "Save your money and build a business" and we will penalize you by taking away your money. "Spend wildly and rely on social services for your retirement" and we'll take care of you. We'll simply tax more people in order to pay for it since the government knows best.

In truth, these types of issues are fundamental to the next election. The estate tax will be repealed completely in 2010 and then reinstated in 2011 back to the original tax levels. With Congress failing miserably at fixing the AMT tax, where there is bi-partisan consensus, I am doubtful that Congress can address these types of contentious issues.

I would like to see more debate on these issues since the country is at a crossroads with the next election.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/12/news/newsmakers/buffett_clinton.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes