Let's Protect Our Economy and Democracy from Paris Hilton: The Case for Keeping the Estate Tax.

This paper discusses the potential impact of repealing the estate tax on our tax system, our economy and even our democratic system. The paper argues that repeal of this tax is unwarranted because it will tend to create concentration of wealth in the United States which will ultimately be detrimental to the economy. Additionally, the arguments favoring repeal tend to center on the emotional call that death is the wrong time to collect taxes and on the negative impact on small farms and businesses. These arguments ignore the fact that most, if not all, small farms and businesses are not subject to the estate tax. More importantly, the estate tax is important for tax progressivity and should be enhanced, not repealed. Finally, the paper argues that if the opponents of repeal are wrong but win the battle, then a few millionaire heirs get a few bucks less. If the proponents of repeal are wrong and win the battle, then we may turn into a Brazil. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]