Death and Taxes

NO policy of the Bush administration has drawn more withering scorn than its drive to eliminate the estate tax. In opposing the tax, Bush “kowtow[s] to plutocrats” and displays “willful obtuseness.” That’s the verdict of Andrew Sullivan—and he’s one of the most pro-Bush pundits around.

For New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, the fact that only the top 2 percent of estates pay the tax means that the campaign against it is “[t]he most remarkable example of how politics has shifted in favor of the wealthy.” Marshall Wittmann, another commentator, said the campaign was one of the reasons he left the Republican party this year. Conservative economist Irwin Stelzer has argued in The Weekly Standard that the estate tax serves the public good by promoting meritocracy. That’s Sullivan’s view, too.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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NO policy of the Bush administration has drawn more withering scorn than its drive to eliminate the estate tax. In opposing the tax, Bush “kowtow[s] to plutocrats” and displays “willful obtuseness.” That’s the verdict of Andrew Sullivan—and he’s one of the most pro-Bush pundits around.

For New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, the fact that only the top 2 percent of estates pay the tax means that the campaign against it is “[t]he most remarkable example of how politics has shifted in favor of the wealthy.” Marshall Wittmann, another commentator, said the campaign was one of the reasons he left the Republican party this year. Conservative economist Irwin Stelzer has argued in The Weekly Standard that the estate tax serves the public good by promoting meritocracy. That’s Sullivan’s view, too.