And the top priority is....

[scottw]

Sowell has another great article today...in part:

Thomas Sowell
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December 21, 2010 12:00 A.M.

Fiscal Tomfoolery
Most of us are not half as smart as we may sometimes think we are.
Random thoughts on the passing scene:

Let’s face it: Most of us are not half as smart as we may sometimes think we are — and for intellectuals, not one-tenth as smart.

I'd add..for pseudo-intellectuals not 1/20th and for Joe Biden not 1/50th

- -
One of the biggest obstacles to economic recovery is that politicians and the media are both focused on how government can make the economy recover, rather than on how it can let the economy recover. One of the biggest deterrents to investments — and the jobs they could create — is uncertainty over what new bright ideas will come out of Washington to change the rules in midstream.
Fiscal Tomfoolery - Thomas Sowell - National Review Online
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Jimmy, did you happen to catch Barney Frank's recent comments? insisting that the estate tax is not a double dip tax/punishment because the heirs didn't do anything to "deserve it"(their inheritance)...Frank is no Jefferson but he does a great Karl Marx impersonation

in times of great stress, the cloak comes off and you get to see people for who they truly are for better or for worse...we're seeing alot of it

"It seemed to me ... that the people with the greatest reputations [for wisdom] were almost entirely deficient, while others who were supposed to be their inferiors were much better qualified in practical intelligence." Socrates

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by scottw

Jimmy, did you happen to catch Barney Frank's recent comments? insisting that the estate tax is not a double dip tax/punishment because the heirs didn't do anything to "deserve it"(their inheritance)...Frank is no Jefferson but he does a great Karl Marx impersonation

in

having had the unfortunate opportunity to be an executor of an estate, most people dont realize the impact of this and how this all works. You all have a hollywood version of the reading of a will where everyone comes into a room and told what they inhereited. Thats all crap. In most states, nothing can be distributed to inheritors until a 1 year debtors period.
Lets say great uncle Benny leaves you his house worth 10 million on Marthas Vineyard. This house was the family gatherin place for generations. It means everything to your family and was the result of Benny's lifes ambition, Maybe the rest of Benny's riches were in an IRA with beneficiaries. Maybe Benny had very little assets other than the house. BAsed on TODAYS tax code ( that the Dems hate), the estate would owe 3,500,000 estate tax on that house, payable in one year after Benny dies. Well, the estate has squat for $$ , Benny's assets are all in an IRA and the beneficiaries take presendence over the will. The estate will HAVE to sell ole Benny's house on the vineyard. Have to in order to pay the taxes! So Benny's lifelong prize possesion will get sold to somebody else, you'll get the $$ once the estate is settled. Thats how it works TODAY. And yet the Dems want MORE. They want the tax to be even higher! Making it even harder to pay the tax from the proceeds of the estate. Selling off more of the property someone worked all their life for. These are the details no one knows! FACTS.