Estate tax should not be repealed

Self-described moderate Democrats like U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean who believe that repeal of the estate tax will serve their constituents, are badly mistaken.

Repealing the estate tax would cause a federal revenue loss of over $1.1 trillion in 10 years, which would further increase the deficit. The majority of voters are never even affected by the estate tax; only 0.5 percent of people nationwide pay the tax each year.

Nor are small businesses negatively affected by the tax. According to a 2004 survey of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, inheritance taxes ranked only 36th as an issue of concern for small business owners.

None of Bean's alleged reasons for opposing the estate tax address the reality of how the tax benefits our society. Repeal of the estate tax is unjustifiable.

The money raised by taxing this tiny portion of the population supports valuable programs that help us all, like health care, education, and social security.

Working people have to pay taxes on their earnings. It seems unconscionable to me that, in this land of supposed "equal opportunity," that a heirs and investors can receive windfalls virtually tax-free while the rest of us receive little in the way of tax breaks from our government.

Trickle-down economics lives, and we don't seem to have the political will to kill it.

Thomas J. Walsh

Schaumburg