martha
Blue Crack Supplier
What is the threshold for the estate tax anyway? When does it kick in? When we inherited in '93, nothing was taxed till after the estate's value reached $500,000.
Consider the estate tax. Congress had nine years to figure out what a new estate tax should look like. Instead, it let the estate tax lapse for 2010, something no one expected and few thought made sense — except those wealthy families such as the Steinbrenners, whose tax bill was reduced substantially when their patriarch passed away this year.
Attorney Joshua S. Rubenstein, national chairman of trusts and estates at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, said it was an “incredible irresponsibility” on the part of Congress to let the estate tax expire at the end of 2009.
“Nobody expected that Congress would never touch the law, and it's staggering to see what the elimination of the estate tax has done to the economy,” said Mr. Rubenstein. “At least five billionaires have died this year in the U.S. The revenues Congress lost from their estates — billions and billions of dollars — are just huge!”
Other billionaires besides George Steinbrenner who passed away include Mary Janet Cargill ($1.7 billion), Dan Duncan ($9 billion), Walter Shorenstein ($1.1 billion), and John Kluge ($6.5 billion.) At the top 45% rate in place last year for estates exceeding $3.5 million, those five families alone would have paid $8.7 billion in estate taxes this year if Congress had not allowed the tax to expire.
With so little time left before the year ends, tax professionals agree it is unlikely Congress will enact any retroactive legislation. Attempting to recoup some of those lost billions in estate taxes, for example, would only generate legal challenges by heirs who can afford the litigation.
By doing nothing, Congress will let the estate tax revert to pre-2001 levels, with a top rate of 55% and a $1 million exemption.
"tuff like that," said Palin, "it is corrupt. It's frustrating. It's why Americans are saying no more, enough is enough. We're going to turn this around. We are going to fight corruption in the media; we're going to fight corruption in politics."
"There is a determined, focused establishment effort … to find a candidate we can coalesce around who can beat Sarah Palin," said one prominent and longtime Washington Republican. "We believe she could get the nomination, but Barack Obama would crush her."
At each stop he draws on nostalgia for the Republican glory days of the 1980s, by telling the same joke. "Remember when Ronald Reagan was president," he said. "We had Bob Hope. We had Johnny Cash. Think about where we are today. We have got President Obama. But we have no hope and we have no cash." It draws hoots of laughter and applause every time.
exactly. i'm in the same boat as you, i was just a little kid but i remember that stuff. i remember the recession in the early 80s (well, it was before i was born but i've certainly heard about it) but thankfully my parents weren't affected by it. i also remember what you mentioned, though again we weren't affected by it. but since it didn't affect me, it doesn't mean it didn't happen or anything. i think it's easier to look back on the past and remember, well, YOU didn't lose your job nor did anyone you knew. revisionist history is never a good thing, and if we don't learn from our past mistakes we're bound to repeat them. that's what happened this time and oh hey, we didn't learn from them again. it's just easier to point the finger and blame obama because he didn't undo the recession in less time than it took for it to occur.Ahaha, ahahaha, aha, ha...um...yeah .
I was just a small child in the '80s, but I seem to recall learning that quite a few people didn't have much hope and cash that decade. There was a whole farmers' crisis thing going on, and there was that stock market tumble in '87, to name a couple economic problems, so try again, maybe?
Boehner's an idiot. I'm glad Rosanne's calling him out on that crap.
exactly. i'm in the same boat as you, i was just a little kid but i remember that stuff. i remember the recession in the early 80s (well, it was before i was born but i've certainly heard about it) but thankfully my parents weren't affected by it. i also remember what you mentioned, though again we weren't affected by it. but since it didn't affect me, it doesn't mean it didn't happen or anything. i think it's easier to look back on the past and remember, well, YOU didn't lose your job nor did anyone you knew.
revisionist history is never a good thing, and if we don't learn from our past mistakes we're bound to repeat them. that's what happened this time and oh hey, we didn't learn from them again. it's just easier to point the finger and blame obama because he didn't undo the recession in less time than it took for it to occur.
I honestly want to throw up every time I hear Sarah Palin speak. She is so inarticulate, it really pains me. And the constant dropping of every G from a verb endin' and the use of "gonna", "wanna", "ya" and so forth in a serious speech is beyond silly.
If this is what makes me an elitist, then thank God that I am one.
That video of hers is BEYOND RIDICULOUS.
I honestly want to throw up every time I hear Sarah Palin speak.
totally agreed. i know she says she's a hockey mom and all that, and well she definitely proves she is. but i want politicians who are better than me and better than the typical person. if i can hear them talk and go "hey, i can do better than this" then that person shouldn't be anywhere near politics.I honestly want to throw up every time I hear Sarah Palin speak. She is so inarticulate, it really pains me. And the constant dropping of every G from a verb endin' and the use of "gonna", "wanna", "ya" and so forth in a serious speech is beyond silly.
If this is what makes me an elitist, then thank God that I am one.
That video of hers is BEYOND RIDICULOUS.