America's downward spiral summed up in a few sentences...

[True Dough]

[surfered]

1. If a U.S. citizens dies in 2026, the fair market value of all assets at the date of death, less liabilities..

…is subject to the Estate Tax.

The current exemption is $15,000,000. Amounts in excess of that are taxed at 40%.

[ToxMarz]

3. It isn't always that simple

What the post is referring to is the "Buy, Borrow, Die" Strategy: Instead of selling assets (triggering capital gains) and accumulating cash that would be taxed, they borrow against their fortune to fund their lifestyle and pass the assets to heirs, allowing them to receive a "step-up in basis," eliminating tax on the gains.

[FakeNoose]

4. You've nailed it

This is the thing that all one-per-centers know, and the rest of us will never be able to take advantage of. This is how the system benefits the one-per-centers and nobody else.

Even if we have another New Deal and start taxing the wealthy like we did in 1920, it's already rigged in their favor.

[FHRRK1]

8. Exactly and to add

A person can inherit the millions, use the step up clause, then down the road take a deduction for LOSSES, on that stepped up amount.

So parents have a stock portfolio where they bought various stocks at $100 per share, children inherit and stocks are all worth $200 per share. A couple years later you need a write off,… hey let’s sell that stock that went from $200 back to $100, and you have a $100 write off!

[surfered]

18. Then they pass the debt on to the heirs as well

[ToxMarz]

19. Yes that's the point, it is cheaper for them to live on borrowed money than pay their fair share of taxes.

And none of the debt their heirs have to pay back contributes to our $7+ trillion annual budget. It just goes back into the pockets (with interest ) of some other wealthy people who also don't pay taxes.

[pansypoo53219]

2. of wealthy PUBLIKKKLAN, by the WEALTHY PUBLIKKKLANS, FOR the wealthy publikklans.

they write the tax LOOPHOLES.

[SergeStorms]

6. Correction.

Their asset managers and tax accountants write the loopholes. A great many of these nitwits inherited everything they have and can barely write their own names.

Sometimes I wish I'd been born exceedingly wealthy instead of devastatingly handsome. Humble, too. 😉

[LilElf70]

5. Sounds like a great idea

for 2029. I just listened to https://democraticunderground.com/100221166599. This idea should be on the list when we take everything back. I'm sure we can squeeze it in somewhere.

[Aussie105]

7. Greed is destroying American society.

It's gone from:

'I've got mine, sod you if you haven't got yours!'

to

'You have some left? I need to take that too!'

[wnylib]

11. One of my aunts used to sum up that attitude as

"I've got mine and devil take the hindmost."

(She was referring to the wealthy, not to herself.)

[BattleRow]

14. "I'm not greedy..I. just want more than my fair share."

[flashman13]

9. It doesn't have to be that way. Congress could fix all that if we demanded they do it.

[Alpeduez21]

12. No they would not

People are demanding and demanding and demanding. Neither side has to listen. Gerrymandering has become so perfected that elections for the party candidate are locked in. Primaries can feel like they upset the Applecart but the status quo remains. Voters don’t need to be given attention and the rich buy it. Out of 435 seats in the House maybe 45 seats are actually competitive. They are all rich. They are not going to change the system that got them that way. Inflation is thru the roof. People go bankrupt because their child got sick. We sit around wondering when the game is on or what the ‘real housewives’ are up to. People used to get their heads chopped off for this shit.

[flashman13]

17. I'm not sure how to reply. I guess you are advocating we sit on our ass and do nothing because

change is hard work. You seem to think change is impossible. I don't.

You don't think it can be done? Teddy Roosevelt was elected in 1904, busted the trusts and monopolies, and ended the Gilded Age. Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932, along with a very large blue wave. He and the Democratic Congress saved the country from depression and set We the People on the road to becoming a middle class with real power (a legacy the Repugs have worked diligently to destroy ever since). So I think history proves your assessment is wrong.

A good start would be to primary out Jefferies and Schumer and the rest of the AIPACrats and run candidates that pledge to do the people's work.

The Repugs led by Trump the defiler have set themselves up for a sea change political drubbing. It is up to us to deliver it.

[sop]

22. Congress could fix it if our elected representatives were not beholden to Big Money interests who fund their campaigns.

We desperately need to end Big Money's control of elected officials. The only way to accomplish this would be to pass effective campaign finance laws. Unfortunately, the only people who can enact such reforms are completely controlled by Big Money.

And don't get me started on Big Money's control of the media...

[patphil]

10. We need a wealth tax.

A one time tax on all wealth over say, 300 million. It should be graduated based on overall wealth.
People like Musk, Thiel, Bezos, Zuckerberg, and others of the ultra rich class should pay at least 1/3 of their net worth.
Of course "one time" means whenever it gets to a point where we need to make a correction.
Personally, I'd like to outlaw billionaires. If you've got that much, you need to give the excess to charities...not of their making, but legitimate charities. They don't get to decide what the charities are.

[Seinan Sensei]

21. "Outlaw billionaires"

I totally agree
It’s been said, every billionaire is a policy failure

[H2O Man]

13. Recommended (#99)

And yet some get anxious when the reality of economic warfare is mentioned.

[druidity33]

15. Do they pay back the loans? nt.

[Joinfortmill]

16. Kinda, sorta. Close enough.

[rickford66]

20. Where do they get the money to make the loan payments?

I have a home equity loan. So I have access to a bunch of money, but I still have to make monthly payments to have the use of the money. I use some of my SS for the payments and plan to repay it all when I sell my house. So they have to get money to pay for the loan.

[moose65]

23. Maybe a dumb question, but:

How do they pay back the loans?

[Richard58]

25. Exactly.

How DO they pay back the loans? Do they just keep borrowing?

[Lokee11]

24. So exactly how does the scam work?

I mean really that is what it is, it is a scam. Like the post previous to this one asks - how do they pay on the loans? how is the scam actually implemented - how does it work?

Thanks in advance for any answers, I truly want to understand .

[ihaveaquestion]

26. It's basically borrowing from peter to pay paul.

They use their stuff as collateral to get cash when they need it and take out another loan to pay off the existing loans. What little tax they owe from selling anything gets written off as a business expense for the corporations they have to protect their finances, as does the interest from the loans they get. It's all pretty complicated, so they don't figure this out themselves... they have accountants for that.

[Glaisne]

27. It's more than that. The rich also engage in

Options trading
Short selling
Futures trading
Commodities trading
Foreign currency exchanges investing and private equity and hedge funds. Things that us regular folks who buy mutual funds and ETFs don’t understand or have access to.

[dalton99a]

28. Kick