http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2010/09/john-w-kluge-telecom-billionia.html
John Kluge was a wheeler dealer in Radio, TV and the telephone business.
He had the nerve! to die on September 7th. He was a billionaire and left much of his wealth to the University of Virginia.
So why would this make someone angry? For all of 2010, there is no estate tax. The reduced rates during the Bush era expired and there weren’t the votes to bring it back. The original draconian rates return next year if Congress doesn’t act.
The theory goes that billionaires near the end of their life might kill themselves this year to save billions of dollars in estate taxes.
You have to love the law of unintended consequences. Tax planners worry that the lame duck Congress might try to pass a retroactive reinstatement of the tax since we now have a couple similar retroactive tax laws.
Ex post facto law … yeah, that sounds pretty liberal to me. What could be next in Utopia?
Pinocchio, standing before him (a magistrate), told his pitiful tale, word by word. He gave the names and the descriptions of the robbers and begged for justice.
The Judge listened to him with great patience. A kind look shone in his eyes. He became very much interested in the story; he felt moved; he almost wept. When the Marionette had no more to say, the Judge put out his hand and rang a bell.
At the sound, two large Mastiffs appeared, dressed in Carabineers’ uniforms. Then the magistrate, pointing to Pinocchio, said in a very solemn voice:
“This poor simpleton has been robbed of four gold pieces. Take him, therefore, and throw him into prison.”
Nosce Inimicum