Lever Daily Apr 10, 2025

Thanks To Trump’s Tax Scam, Death Isn’t The End For GOP Lawmakers’ Riches

A new report finds Republican lawmakers stand to massively financially benefit from Trump’s renewed push to end the “death tax.”

Veronica Riccobene

Thanks To Trump’s Tax Scam, Death Isn’t The End For GOP Lawmakers’ Riches

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) makes statements ahead of a vote on President Donald Trump’s tax breaks in Washington, D.C., on April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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TODAY'S NUGGETS

💸 GOP lawmakers may cash in on tax breaks. A staggering 70 percent of congressional Republicans could financially benefit from Trump’s billionaire-friendly tax plan that they’ve helped ram through Congress. A new project from watchdog group Accountable.US shows how nearly every Republican in Congress stands to personally gain from the new tax plan, which will also deliver unprecedented cuts to social services for working-class Americans.

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jim landau 1 week ago

The housing report does not say that more than half of the units in the five states mentioned are owned by private equity. It says that more than half of the units private equity owns are in those five states. Not the same.

jim landau 1 week ago

The housing report does not say that more than half of the units in the five states mentioned are owned by private equity. It says that more than half of the units private equity owns are in those five states. Not the same.

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Crowfoot 1 week ago

I agree with getting rid of the death tax. To me that is stealing inheritance from people whose parents have created the wealth and hopefully paid taxes on it as they created it. I do believe in equal taxes for everyone with no cap on the amount of money taxed. That's how we got into this situation in the first place with all the wealth going to the top 5% giving tax breaks and allowing corporations to get by without paying taxes and some rich people using loopholes to get around paying taxes. There would be enough money to pay wages and create an affluent country if everyone paid their share.

James 1 week ago

Today no estate tax is paid for an estate worth less than $14M for an individual. $28M for a couple. Below that no estate tax is paid. That's a lot of money for most people. The maximum tax rate for the dollars above $14 + $1M is taxed at 40%. So one is left with $14M plus at least a 60% portion of the remainder. For a billion dollar estate there would still be $600M left, assuming they didn't hide money in the various places they hide it. My heart aches for these poor people.

A couple points. First, estate tax (why use the right's terminology?) was created to prevent families from becoming even more rich and powerful than they are today. It also, along with a proper progressive tax code (progressive i.e. goes up with income, not the political version) help redistribute the wealth that was horded to the top. Yes HORDED! by the uber wealthy. Yes I know that sounds bad but it is good, like how the forests give back nutrients from the trees shedding leaves, branches or dying to the earth). All that money is what I would call "excess wealth". You can take it yet it makes not one bit of difference in lifestyle to those taxed. They don't even feel it. It's just the idea of being taxed and that money used for the rest of America that enrages them.

Point 2. For the most part the uber wealthy did not pay taxes on that wealth. Most fabulously wealthy people did not "earn" their wealth from a paycheck. They acquired it through investments, ownership of large numbers of shares in companies that grew a lot. Look at any of the prominent oligarchs today: Bezos, Musk, Gates, Zuckerberg. All of them are wealthy from stock awarded to them that has grown over the last 10-20 years by hundreds of fold. No taxes paid on any of that. When they need some cash they usually doge taxes by borrowing against their investments so no income is seen. Even if they do sell stock and pay taxes it's taxed at the same rate as a middle class person pays when they sell stock. So they pay little to no tax compared to the wealth they horded. Now when they die, without an inheritance tax their decedents/beneficiaries will pay zero tax as well. This robs the economy of that horde. It's like just slicing a pie and taking a piece out of it.

Bottom line, it's better for the country, the economy and it's more fair.

Thanks To Trump’s Tax Scam, Death Isn’t The End For GOP Lawmakers’ Riches

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