From the New York Times:

A Texas pipeline tycoon who died two months ago may become the first American billionaire allowed to pass his fortune to his children and grandchildren tax-free…

Had his life ended three months earlier, Mr. Duncan’s riches — Forbes magazine estimated his worth at $9 billion, ranking him as the 74th wealthiest in the world — would have been subject to a federal tax of at least 45 percent. If he had lived past Jan. 1, 2011, the rate would be even higher — 55 percent.

Instead, because Congress allowed the tax to lapse for one year and gave all estates a free pass in 2010, Mr. Duncan’s four children and four grandchildren stand to collect billions that in any other year would have gone to the Treasury…

The bonanza in tax savings for Mr. Duncan’s descendants is sure to be unsettling to those who have paid estate taxes on more modest wealth — until Jan. 1 of this year, it applied to any estate valued at more than $3.5 million, taxing only the money exceeding that threshold, or $7 million for a couple’s estate.

O no! heaven forbid a “Texas pipeline tycoon” gets to pass on his hard-earned estate to his heirs without the government getting a piece of the pie. This is an American travesty.

For those of you unfamiliar with the ‘estate tax,’ it is a way for the government to tax people once they have died. Having already paid taxes on the money in the form of income tax, the government proceeds to charge citizens for the privilege of dying. You see, the government is the source of all wealth. In fact, you do not have a ‘right’ to your property. Rather, the government ‘owns’ your property and loans it to you throughout your life. As such, once you die, the source, the government, has a right to recollect what it has loaned you. That is what a death tax means.

The Times story continued: “[a]dvocates of the tax say it is unconscionable that Congressional leaders have allowed the richest Americans to reap a new tax break at a time when deficits are soaring and the income gap between wealthy and poor citizens remains near historic levels.” And there you have it. The purpose of the tax code is not really to fund the necessary functions of government. Instead, the tax code is used to “spread the wealth around.” Sadly, it is not just the peons at the Times that view the tax code through this Marxist lens – the President of the United Sates hold the very same opinion. In 2008 then candidate Obama promised to raise the capital gains tax rate. He was told that such a move would actually reduce government revenues, as it has in the past. His response was that he didn’t care – it is unfair that people “wok the stock market” and don’t pay higher taxes. Of course, there was also O’s famous run-in with Joe the Plumber. It doesn’t matter to the left that the Coolidge, Kennedy, Reagan and Bush tax cuts all actually increased government revenues. They are not interested in reality and helping people. No – they want soak the rich and make everyone equally miserable as opposed to disproportionally successful.