May 12, 2006 02:13 PM | Permalink |
Republican leaders in Congress are poised for a new push to repeal the federal estate tax—even as a new report from the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) reminds us of the critical role the estate tax plays in reducing the concentration of wealth in a few hands. The new report shows that the wealthiest one percent of Americans own more than a third of the net wealth in America—more than the poorest ninety percent of Americans put together—and this inequality has grown worse over the past fifteen years.