RE: 'Our national debt' [Village News, Opinion, 6/28/07]

Jesse Ford mentions that in the last 26 years our national debt has grown from $1 trillion to $8 trillion and then goes on to state how wise Warren Buffett is to oppose Bush’s effort to kill the estate tax, since “inherited wealth is an almost sure way to ruin the next generation.”

It’s interesting, Mr. Ford, that you bring up both these issues, implying that one can take care of the other. Obviously since the death tax is in full working order, it does not appear to be putting a dent in our national debt, as you deduce it will.

I respect what Warren Buffett is doing with his wealth. It is his wealth. If he wants to give it all to charity, give it to a neighbor or to the government, so be it. It is his money. It is not Mr. Ford’s or anyone else’s business what the rest of the rich do with their money. The estate tax should be repealed because it is stealing. It is like a bunch of vultures coming in for the kill.

So why not a death tax? The livelihoods that people have worked so hard for – family businesses, investments, bank accounts, farmland – literally have to be annihilated (liquidated) so the government can take their cut. How good is this for the economy? We can all see that just because the government gets more money doesn’t somehow mean we are getting out of debt.

As far as Paris Hilton is concerned, the way her parents raised her bears more responsibility than the cash. It is not the government’s responsibility to “save” the next generation from inherited wealth. This responsibility stands with the cash earner. The government is not a parent.

Leah Gerten