THE ESTATE TAX

November 9, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: The Estate Tax

Don’t you think $5.49 million for an individual (twice that for a couple) is enough tax-free money to pass on from one generation to the next? I mean, how many American families qualify for the huge gift that the current version of the so-called “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” proposes? The Trump family, of course, will enjoy vast benefits; and so will a relative handful of other extremely wealthy people. But the rest of us?

I have heard the old argument about those poor small farmers, unable to pass the homestead along to their heirs. Turns out, though, that it’s just that—an argument, not a reality. It has been substantially discredited. No, it’s just the extremely wealthy who would enjoy the benefits of this provision, while of course the less well-off would end up compensating for the lost revenue out of their own pockets. I think you’ll agree that this is the kind of redistribution of wealth you so abhor; only, as usual, in the wrong direction.

Of the many ill-thought provisions in the proposed bill, this in my opinion is the most egregious. I hope that this week’s election results, with their heavy rejection of Republican intentions on the repeal and replacement of Obamacare, will give you pause before voting for yet another assault on the values and financial security of the majority of your countrymen and women.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.