Obama's sneaky attempt to raise the death tax without asking Congress

The Constitution says you can't pass laws or levy taxes without congressional approval. Barack Obama does not see the Constitution as a limit to respect. He sees it as a target to be destroyed, and his directive to the administrative state is to find a way. Find a way to govern as we want, without having to bother with Congress. Do it via regulatory and administrative rulemaking if that's what it takes. But do it. Apparently the Treasury Department has found a way to do it in the form of a grab for more estate tax revenue. They can't technically raise the rates or establish a new exemption threshold, but no problem. Instead, they'll simply redefine how they calculate the value of your assets for the purpose of taxing them. One way or another, they will get your money.

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The Wall Street Journal explains:

For example, consider a minority stake with limited rights in a family business. While the business as a whole may have considerable value, how much would an investor be willing to pay for a small, illiquid piece of a private business that she can’t control? The typical answer is not much. On the other hand, the investor might pay handsomely for a controlling interest. The IRS has long recognized this reality and has allowed the discounting of interests in closely held businesses to more closely reflect what they could fetch on the open market, rather than simply assigning a percentage of a firm’s overall estimated value. A lower value assigned to an asset means a smaller tax bite. But what seems like a reasonable interpretation to some looks like a wasted revenue opportunity to the Obama Treasury. So the feds are now accepting public comments on a plan to limit discounting and thereby raise the official value of many of these stakes in family firms, exposing them to higher tax bills. Treasury is hoping to roll out a final rule before Mr. Obama departs in January.

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Donald Trump proposes to get rid of the death tax entirely

So Treasury is more than happy to abandon a very reasonable interpretation of what your asset is worth on the open market, and instead embrace a completely absurd interpretation that bears no resemblance to reality, but does have the virtue - from the government's point of view - of forcing you to pay them more money. Oh, by the way, Hillary is proposing to both raise the raise and lower the exemption threshold. Why? Even more money for the government, sillies! Hopefully she will never get elected and have the chance to try it, but if she does get elected and a Republican Congress stops her, no problem. She can just put the administrative state to work finding a way, same as Obama. Surely there are more rules that can be changed and interpretations that can be re-opened. These people do whatever they want. And by the way, what they want is always to take as much of your money as they can. There is not a dollar in circulation that they wouldn't prefer to see in the hands of Washington politicians instead of in the private sector. Donald Trump proposes to get rid of the death tax entirely, and for that Hillary derides him as being driven by self-interest, a charge that requires about as much chutzpah as any you'll ever hear. But even if Trump would benefit from the elimination of the death tax, who cares as long as the rest of the country would too? And it would. The Democrats and their media megaphones will tell you the death tax is not a concern for you because you will probably never have enough to have to pay it. But it's your concern when there isn't enough capital circulating in the private economy because it's all being usurped by Washington, and as a result there isn't as much opportunity for you to prosper in your own life.

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Biggest lie politicians and the media always tell you

But that's the biggest lie politicians and the media always tell you: That it somehow helps you when rich people are forced to give their money to the government. It doesn't. That rich person just might hire you, or make a product you want to buy, or invest in a venture that would benefit you. That politician will never do anything with that money that helps you - unless it buys your vote. And believe me, when you sell your vote, you never get back what you gave away.

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