Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures." -- Daniel Webster
Tuesday, December 17, 2002 :::
Lily Malcolm discusses the importance in a democracy of spreading the costs across society.
This applies to individual laws as well. We certainly need to have some laws that don't affect everyone -- or even a majority -- equally, but any law which applies to a small group needs to be considered with extra care.
That's why my take on the estate tax is that, if we keep it, we should lower the exemption. The estate tax currently only impacts a small minority of the population, and I think much of the support that exists for keeping the tax is based on that reality -- i.e., people want to tax people who aren't them.