I'm stunned. Some of USAmerica's wealthiest people are fighting the repeal of the estate tax, including Bill Gates. There are a lot of comments on MetaFilter regarding the injustice of such a tax. I don't find them compelling. Government has to redistribute wealth in a capitalist system or the gap between the rich and poor will grow indefinitely. Nathan (norm on MetaFilter, of Hobbsblog) has two particularly good points.

Here is a great quote from Warren Buffet, may his tribe increase (via terrapin on MetaFilter):

"I hear friends talk about the debilitating effects of food stamps and the self-perpetuating nature of welfare and how terrible that is. These same people are leaving tons of money to their kids, whose main achievement in life had been to emerge from the right womb. And when they emerge from that womb, instead of a welfare officer, they have a trust fund officer. Instead of food stamps, they get dividends and interest."

" [I consider myself] very undertaxed. I hear this Republican message that we're rich as hell and we're not going to take it any more. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I'm paying taxes at a lower rate than my secretary ... and frankly I think that's crazy."