WOIFM

The Death Tax Must Die

While sitting in an estate-planning seminar, I recently thought of another reason the death tax should die, and found that others have already reached the same conclusion. The death tax, like many other taxes, discriminates against gay and lesbian couples. Los Angeles tax attorney Afshin Asher puts it succinctly:

The laws generally do not recognize the same rights and privileges for same-sex couples.

Another commentator, Stephen Miller, sees the opportunity for politics to make strange bedfellows, in his article entitled An Economic Agenda for Gay Couples."

How about a gay political movement that tells conservatives they'll have our support for repeal of the "death tax" and for private Social Security accounts, in return for support on some of OUR civil rights issues? Now there's an original idea on building alliances that just might produce tangible benefits in the here and now.

Note to Miller: See Pink Pistols and Log Cabin Republicans for examples of gay activists who have found common ground with traditionally conservative thought and broken the chains of how they are expected to think.