House Votes on Death Tax

Yesterday, the House voted on and passed death tax legislation. Analysts estimate that, if enacted, the legislation would decrease the number of taxed estates to around 5,100, down from 30,000 under the current law–but this is a long way from HR 8 which completely repealed this economically damaging form of double taxation. Republicans are calling this a compromise. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi disagrees, saying it is "morally wrong" to cut the death tax while the minimum wage remains at its current level.

This is a classic move by the Democrats: disguising the harmful effects of a minimum wage increase with their populist rhetoric, while simultaneously supporting a tax that has been shown empirically to hurt small businesses, job-creation, and is proven to be a disincentive for savings and investment. Such a lack of economic responsibility is truly disconcerting.