Senators' Inhofe and Coburn voted yesterday to permanently eliminate the aptly named "death tax". Like the telephone tax that was enacted to fund the Spanish American war, the estate tax was initiated in 1916 to help fund the first World War. Later, it was enacted into the tax code to prevent the accumulation of huge, inherited fortunes. Fortunately, the telephone tax was recently repealed, but unfortunately, the estate tax has received another life from moderate Republicans and Senate Democrats. The Death tax clearly is an example of double taxation of wealth. It can collect up to forty-six percent of the value of estates when the owner dies. Most impacted by the estate tax are family owned farms; many are described as "land rich but cash poor." To pay the exorbitant death tax, many families are forced to sell land or equipment, often crippling their ability to farm at all. In worst case scenarios, the farm families borrow to pay off the death taxes owed, thus increasing their already indebtedness. Hopefully by 2010, when the estate tax is scheduled to be back on the books, lawmakers will have the courage to do what's right. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) (excerpt) Oklahoma's two Senators voted for a bill to eliminate or reduce the estate tax that failed to advance today.The vote was 57-to-41 with 60 votes needed to advance the bill. Senators Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn both voted for the measure. Current law calls for the estate tax to be reduced each year until it disappears in 20-10, then it would return the following year. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says the Senate will vote again this year on eliminating the tax. Posted at 6/09/2006 08:33:00 AM