CNN has reported that the Senate has failed at an attempt to reach a compromise on legislation to raise the limits on the estate tax after an earlier attempt at outright repeal of the tax also failed. Repeal of the estate tax would affect less than one percent of all estates of persons dying after the first of this year but it is also estimated that the cost in revenue to the goverment would be as high as one trillion dollars between the years 2012 and 2021.
I could not help but notice that, in a related article, CNN reported that an (unscientific) online poll indicates that fully 51% of those repsonding favored the outright elimination of the tax. It is a sobering thought that those special interest groups fighting for estate tax repeal have succeeded to the point where 51% of the public appears to be willing to shoulder a one trillion dollar tax burden which the wealthiest .3% of Americans would be relieved of paying.