In response to your Dec. 9 editorial "The fair thing," the inheritance tax is definitely a death tax and it's definitely not fair. It's consistent with government leaders' considering our wealth theirs, while allowing citizens to retain some out of the goodness of their hearts.
Consider that the accumulated wealth was taxed when earned, held and spent. When the federal income tax was implemented in 1894, it had to be abolished in 1895 because it violated the Constitution. Congress corrected that with the 16th Amendment in 1913. Look how far we've come, taxing from cradle-to-grave and beyond.
It's hard to imagine government justification for the death tax except that it considered the wealth to be government's all along. We are allowed to have some until it chooses to utilize it for redistribution and social engineering. In essence, the government feels it can handle the wealth better than its citizens.
