Give Me a Break! -- Not a Bakken Story -- And Completely Non-Political

Current proposal: estate tax deal: first $5 million tax-free to heirs; rest at 35% maximum rate
Alternate proposal:  estate tax deal: first $3.5 million tax-free to heirs; rest at 45% maximum rate

And THIS is what could be a deal breaker for those upset about the bill. The estate tax.

Give me a break.

Note: in 2010 -- all estates, no matter how big, have zero federal tax applied. Zero. Nada. Nil. Zilch. 

In exchange for the current estate tax proposal, "we" all get:

• Extension of tax breaks for all Americans, including small businesses, farmers, small independent oil companies, small renewable energy companies
• Extension of renewable energy credits (automobiles, ethanol, etc)
• 2.5% break on social security withholding for all workers for one year ($5,000/month = $125/month)
• Unemployment extension for another 13 months -- that's one more month than a full year
• Congress goes into Christmas recess on time, sparing us the histrionics

And all of these goodies for only $885 billion more in debt (that's less than a trillion dollars).

And the estate tax issue is the deal breaker -- the deal breaker -- for at least one congressman/senator.

Give me a break. There must be a lot of congressmen with an estate worth $3.5 to $4.9 million, who expect to  pass it on this year, and can't afford lawyers and accountants to find loopholes.