Washington Post Op-Ed Takes Stand Against Estate Tax Repeal

Like yesterday’s NY Times reported on this blog here, Monday’s (June 5, 2006) Washington Post also contained on op-ed column against repeal of the federal estate tax.  See Sebastian Mallaby, Reward for the Hereditary Elite . . . , Wash. Post, June 5, 2006, at A15.

Here are some excerpts from the editorial:

It doesn’t matter if you are liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican. There is no possible excuse for doing what Congress is poised to do this week: Abolish the estate tax. * * *

The nation faces the prospect that inequality will damage meritocracy. When the distance between top and bottom widens, it becomes harder to traverse the gap; people of low birth are stuck at the bottom, and human talent is wasted. What is the dumbest possible response to this? Take the tax that limits what the super-rich pass on to their children and get rid of it. Send a message to hereditary elites: Go ahead, entrench yourselves!

Special thanks to Prof. Joel C. Dobris of the University of California — Davis for pointing out this editorial.