A Call to Revamp the Estate Tax

Today, the United States has by far the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth.  This inequality is worse than any other time in our nation’s history since 1928.  In 2014, the top 1 percent owns about 37 percent of the total wealth in this country and the bottom 60 percent owns only 1.7 percent of the wealth. 

More than a century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt recognized the dangers of massive wealth and income inequality as he fought for the creation of a progressive estate tax to reduce the enormous concentration of wealth that existed during the Gilded Age.  “I believe in … a graduated inheritance tax on big fortunes, properly safeguarded against evasion and increasing rapidly in amount with the size of the estate.”

Although Roosevelt spoke these words in 1910, they are highly relevant today as a progressive estate tax on multi-millionaires may be the best way to reduce wealth inequality, lower our $17 trillion national debt and raise the resources needed for infrastructure, education and other priorities.  This legislation would exempt more than 99.7 percent of Americans from paying any estate tax while ensuring that the wealthiest Americans in our country pay their fair share.

See Sen. Bernie Sanders, A Progressive Estate Tax, The Huffington Post, Sept. 8, 2014.