* BFD. One Not Like The Other *
Just about every person in the world by now knows about the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion Covid relief package, and, yes, it was a big fuking deal when President Biden signed that bill called the American Rescue Plan into law on the 51st day of his presidency.
But the other folks, ya know, the boys and girls who said the rescue plan that focused on average Americans was too costly, had two days earlier come up with their own – Rescue Billionaires Repeal Estate Tax Give Them A $1.7 Trillion Tax Brake Plan.
Those other folks, who a long time ago were a governing partner in the American Democracy Experiment, said their rescue plan – to repeal the estate tax (RBRETGTTTBP), would be a big righteous deal focused on small family farms and small businesses.
But (there’s always a but), according to Warren Gunnels, Senator Bernie Sanders’ staff director: “Not a single family farm owed an estate tax according to the latest data. Not a single one.
“It’s called the estate tax and repealing it would provide a $1.7 trillion tax break to the billionaire class and a ZERO tax break to the bottom 99.99% of Americans. Not a single family farm owed an estate tax according to the latest data. Not a single one. Warren Gunnels (@GunnelsWarren) March 12 2021
Arthur Delaney and Igor Bobic at HuffPost reported that “Only 1,900 estates were valuable enough to owe this [estate] tax in 2018. Over 90% of those estates came from the top 10% of income earners; almost half of the total tax paid came from the richest 0.1% of Americans.”
In summation: “Couching the estate tax repeal as a benefit for America’s valiant business and farm owners is a scam.” Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times.
