Paul Ryan's immoral act requires a response

It is hard to believe that Paul Ryan (R-WI) and his ilk would be so blatant in showing that their main purpose in Congress is to serve the wealthy. This is neither hyperbole nor an exaggeration. Matt O'Brien in the Washington Post says it best:

A specter is haunting America's super-rich - the specter of progressive taxation.

Don't worry, though, the Republican Party is manning the barricades against this menace. That's been true for the last 35 years, and it's no less so now. Indeed, the Paul Ryan-led House Ways and Means Committee just symbolically voted to end the estate tax entirely. In other words, to stand in solidarity with the heirs of the top 0.2 percent.
That's how many households pay the estate tax now: 2 out of 1,000. Why so low? Well, the first $5.43 million that an individual or $10.86 million that a couple leaves behind isn't taxed when they pass away. The estate tax, with its 40 percent top rate, only kicks in for anything more than that. And even then, creative accountants and big deductions can shield a lot of the rest from Uncle Sam. So it's important to remember that there's a difference between the top marginal tax rate and the effective tax rate that estates pay. Since the super-rich only owe the estate tax on some of what they own, they actually pay, on average, 16.6 percent of the value of their estate.
Here is the thing: According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the estate tax repeal would cost $269 billion in reduced revenues between fiscal 2016 and 2025. If one counts the incurred interest on the debt from the deficit it would create, the figure jumps to $320 billion. Worse, the estate tax repeal affects only 0.2 percent of Americans-in other words, 99.8 percent of Americans get no benefit from said tax cut because they could not possibly inherit, or receive income and capital they did not work for, that would qualify for the estate tax repeal.

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