That same government now taxes its own citizens at every turn. The federal estate tax was created in 1916 to help pay for World War I, and was aimed at families like the Rockefellers. But then take a typical family-owned farm of 1,000 acres. The parent dies, leaving the farm to the children. Furthermore, estate tax is due within nine months.
Few heirs have that kind of cash.
They usually have to sell that acreage, or perhaps the entire farm, to come up with it. And it's done in a hurry, so heirs sometimes have to sell for substantially less than the property is worth. Both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have passed a bill to eliminate the death tax by 2010, and now it's up to President Clinton to give his approval or veto. But it's hard not to be skeptical of the outcome. Last week's survey question asked whether you'd like to see more farmland put into conservation programs which encourage animal-friendly plantings and other practices that benefit local wildlife and water quality.