[Fish2006]

Why all the hate on the estate tax? The estate tax taxes the least productive Americans - dead ones and ones living off the largesse of another's work. Heck, I like what Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are doing - the kids enough to do most things, but not enough to do nothing (i.e. around $5M), the rest goes to charity.

Now, that said, if you think the most productive Americans are the ones who have the highest incomes, I think you should take a second look. For one, I can state with certainty that the higher you go up in corporate America, the less productive you tend to be. My hardest job I ever worked was doing the counter at a DQ when I was a teenager. Every job I have had since then has been easier and easier, the higher I have gone up the ladder.

The real rich are not that way because of productivity, they are that way because they a.) inherited it (old money) or b.) found a niche, worked hard, and took a risk.

That said, I am in favor of lower capital gains. And I think Obama is mistaken on that front. I never said he was perfect :) I think risk takers need to have a reasonable return on investment. What I don't think is that when they lose the bet, that the government should bail them out.

Obama, as far as I know, is in favor of keeping the cuts for everyone but people making over $250k AGI. And is in favor of removing the FICA cap above that level (or perhaps higher - need to check) - leaving a hole from around 110k to 250k or wherever, which is good, given that the money you make between around 110k and 200k is the highest tax money in the system - as that is where most of the current tax breaks level off and most people get hit with AMT.

As for programs, everyone has their pet programs, and Bush and McCain are no exception. I think it is unfair to just say XX programs == bad without looking at what they are and what might be being eliminated to compensate for them. If it is programs to, say, rebuild broken infrastructure like bridges and stuff, then its probably good. If it is a program that is, say, "free crack for teenagers", then probably not. MY guess is it probably more like the former than the latter.