Estate Taxes 2010

or lack thereof

Yesterday I sat here at my computer and tried to think of something brilliant to write but nothing came readily to mind. I wrote what was intended to be a posting but one of the persons involved didn't feel comfortable with the story being released at this time so it ended up as a draft. If it is ever posted I will refer back to it.

Sunday was one of those typical summer days here at my house, nothing worth watching on TV, no good fishing holes nearby, too hot to golf and I fall asleep trying to read but late in the day I did stay awake long enough to read an article on the woes of the estate tax laws and how George Steinbrenner, or rather his estate, will probably get the last laugh at the expense of our, mostly, antiquated tax system. Under the law as of 2009 his estate would have paid approximately five hundred million dollars in taxes on his net worth of about one point one billion dollars but our esteemed, in their own eyes, congress was so engrossed with passing a health care bill which was opposed by the majority of the people (who pays for all of this?) that they apparently forgot to extend the estate tax law through 2010. In 2011 the law will return to near the same rate as it was in 2009. Why it was ever passed in such a haphazard manner can probably only be answered by a senator or representative.
At this time Senator Bernie Sanders and others are proposing a new estate tax law which would be even more stringent that the old law and also retroactive to January 1, 2010. Again, I want to point out that is ex post facto and is unconstitutional. I'm sure everyone has heard the expression many time that someone has twenty / twenty hindsight. That appears to be the only way our congress can get anything passed and fortunately that is called ex post facto and is unconstitutional but unfortunately it will stand as law until it is challenged in court and ultimately decided by the Supreme Court. I can't imagine the Steinbrenner Estate not challenging such a law if it is passed (ex post facto, after the fact, retroactive).

By now you probably know that I don't like ex post facto laws but there are others I dislike just as much. Just make them according to our Constitution. Stay tuned, - William