in any discussions I've had about pass-through excise taxes and government imposed "fees"...something I am involved in every day becasue of the 7.5% pass through on airline tickets, as an example. Don't like them, don't agree with them. Most are "hidden" so that the unsuspecting public doesn't understand that over 25% of that airline ticket you bought goes straight to the fed...nope...John Q Public thinks the airline gets all that money and can't understand why they all can't turn a profit.

Not a big fan of the layering of taxes at all.

In addition, the forced sale aspect of the estate tax either gets worked around or I'm all for throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Why, because Mars or Walton or Kennedy or Rockefeller or Mellon or Ford or Heinz will avoid paying the majority of their "fair share" by buying a nice, high priced, estate planner...while the guys that get blasted are the ones that can't afford such high priced talent when they're living.