Opposing the Death Tax: Preserving Family Legacies and Restoring Economic Freedom
One of the most insidious forms of government overreach is the so-called “Death Tax,” more formally known as the estate tax. This tax punishes hard-working Americans who have spent their lives building businesses, family farms, and wealth, only to have the government swoop in upon their death and seize a significant portion of their estate. This is not only a moral injustice but also an economic disaster for the future of American families and businesses.
The Left’s Unjustifiable Defense of the Death Tax
Those on the Left attempt to justify the estate tax by appealing to the idea of “economic fairness.” They argue that large estates represent concentrated wealth that should be redistributed to “level the playing field.” However, this is nothing more than the rhetoric of envy and class warfare. The government has no right to penalize success or to forcibly redistribute what has been rightfully earned through a lifetime of labor, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
The Left often claims that the estate tax only affects the ultra-wealthy and that it’s a way to ensure they “pay their fair share.” But what they conveniently ignore is the catastrophic impact this tax has on family farms, small businesses, and middle-class families who have worked for generations to build a legacy. The threshold for paying the estate tax might seem high at first glance, but when you consider the value of land, equipment, and the business assets necessary to keep a family farm or small business running, it’s easy to see how everyday Americans are caught in the crosshairs of this punitive tax.
How the Death Tax Destroys Family Farms and Businesses
Imagine a family farm that has been passed down through generations. The parents have invested their lives into building a thriving agricultural business that provides food for the community and economic stability for their family. Upon their death, the estate tax demands that a significant portion of the farm’s value—often in the millions, simply due to the high cost of land—is paid to the government. The grieving children, who have planned to continue running the farm, now face a financial burden they cannot bear. The only option? Sell the farm to pay the tax. What does this accomplish? It destroys the legacy that family worked for, while leaving less land in the hands of Americans, often to be purchased by large corporations or even foreign investors. The same scenario plays out with small businesses that are the backbone of our economy.
Trump’s Role in Ending the Death Tax and Protecting Family Legacies
If Donald Trump is re-elected, he must work tirelessly to eliminate the death tax altogether. His administration made progress in this area, doubling the exemption limit temporarily through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but more needs to be done. Completely abolishing the estate tax is not just a matter of fiscal policy—it is a moral imperative.
The government should not have the power to strip away family legacies. Businesses and farms built through blood, sweat, and tears should not be at the mercy of bureaucratic confiscation. Ending the death tax would allow families to continue their work, expand their businesses, and create more jobs without fearing that the government will take it all away at the end of their lives.
Beyond abolishing the estate tax, we should also work to remove other burdensome taxes, such as taxes on tips, Social Security, and overtime. These are all punitive taxes that disproportionately harm working Americans. Why should waiters, bartenders, and servers have their tips taxed? These individuals work hard to earn their money, and the government should not be taking a cut of their wages. Similarly, taxing Social Security is nothing short of double taxation. Americans have paid into the system their entire working lives, and taxing their benefits in retirement is a betrayal of that promise. Overtime should also be a reward for hard work, not a trigger for more government greed.
Balancing the Budget Without Punitive Taxes
Now, critics will undoubtedly ask how we can balance the budget and reduce the deficit if we eliminate these taxes. The answer is simple: reduce government spending. The federal government is bloated, inefficient, and wasteful. Instead of taking more money from hardworking Americans, we should focus on cutting wasteful programs, reducing unnecessary regulations, and streamlining the bureaucracy.
Moreover, the elimination of the estate tax would stimulate economic growth by allowing family businesses to reinvest their resources instead of selling off assets to pay the taxman. This reinvestment leads to job creation, increased productivity, and ultimately, higher tax revenues from a broader tax base. By allowing businesses to grow and thrive without the threat of death taxes, the economy will expand, generating more prosperity for all.
In addition, we can look at cutting foreign aid, ending costly and unnecessary government programs, and reforming entitlement programs that have ballooned out of control. There is no reason that our government cannot be fiscally responsible without resorting to these harmful and punitive taxes.
Conclusion
The death tax, along with other forms of punitive taxation like taxes on tips, Social Security, and overtime, must be abolished to restore economic freedom and protect American families. The government has no right to confiscate wealth upon death, destroy family legacies, and disrupt businesses that contribute to the prosperity of our nation. With Donald Trump’s leadership, we can end these unjust taxes and set America on a course toward economic freedom, allowing families to build and pass on their wealth without fear of government overreach. It’s time to empower American families, reduce government waste, and ensure that future generations inherit the freedom to continue their family’s work, not a mountain of government-imposed debt.
Read and comment on many of my other conservative essays at https://elvinunleashed.substack.com
Comments