Top Congress priority in Gallup public poll: keep the estate tax down

[muriel_volestrangler]

Via the excellent Slacktivist:

Here is a remarkable finding from a recent Gallup poll. Americans were asked to rate a series of issues before the final session of this Congress as "Very important," "Somewhat important" or "Not too/Not at all important."

"Passing legislation that would keep the estate tax from increasing significantly next year" was rated as very important by 56 percent of respondents.

"Extending unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed" was rated as very important by 48 percent.

It doesn't help that Gallup has phrased the question in a misleading way. I'm guessing that a more accurate question -- "passing legislation that would abolish the estate tax, preventing it from returning to normal levels as promised" -- would get a somewhat different response. But still this is insane.

The estate tax beats everything - general income tax cuts, the START treaty, DADT repeal, and the DREAM act. Of all the things facing the US, preserving the wealth of the very richest is seen as the most urgent. Not getting money to those in immediate need.

:banghead:

[xchrom]

1. really? -- well you can't accuse americans of knowing what's going on. nt

[RandomThoughts]

2. Thats just something to get people to turn against democracy.

Basically the concept is people are to easily manipulated to be able to rule themselves.

To show that some deception and clever marketing that plays to peoples flaws can create that situation is to try to get you to turn to ideas of dictatorship, then once you do that you can be turned to lack of empathy and superiority complex, then feel you deserve more, and be corrupted, then overthrown for it.

I figure the fix is not totalitarianism, but enough people educating people to the ways of marketing, and even their own flaws, to reverse those effects in much of the population. Or for leaders to work to those goals, the hard work of education is more difficult then some of the rewards of claiming a totalitarian position.


I can guarantee that most people do not agree to that question if asked the same question with an explanation of earned wealth and progressive taxation to correct capitalist imbalances.

[ET Awful]

3. Of course of that 56%, only about .5% or so would ever be subject to the tax anyway.

That vast majority of people don't have a large enough estate to wind up paying estate taxes, even under the tax code as written prior to Bush taking office.

How many people do you know that have estates over 1.2 million? I don't know very many myself.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Fred Clark (Slacktivist) goes on to wonder about that

and why people are worried about something they'll never benefit from, when unemployment is far more likely to affect them - so it's not self interest. He points to a Brad DeLong piece in which he suggests it's the mentality of a person who thinks that, if he is in pain, others should be in pain too.

[ET Awful]

6. You'd be surprised how many people just plain don't know they aren't subject to estate tax

I've talked to a LOT of people who will bitch and moan saying . . "I'm not even worth $250,000 and the government is going to take half of that before my kids see a dime".

It's pure ignorance and it comes from people who listen to sources like O'Reilly and such for all their info.

[Billy Burnett]

5. They won't be subject to it. But they'll be the losers w/o the estate tax.

The government revenues have to come from somewhere.

I don't think they polled in this way because they weren't subject to the tax, it's because (thanks to the US msm) they are clueless as to where the revenues used for unemployment benefits etc. come from.