If the rich are getting richer, what should we do about it? How about a reasonable estate tax which is what Oregon has. There are generous exemptions. And Forbes is a very biased source, generally favoring the affluent and rich.

Re: "In contrast, it's not a good place to die."

According to the Forbes map, OR is no better or worse than NY, ME, MA, or DC.

And worse then every place else. Do you have a point?

If I am dead, I plan not to worry about estate taxes. Until then, the issue is only theoretical. Let my lucky heirs share the largesse with the state that lets me live here, enjoy its bounty and lets me walk on the beaches when I want to.

Its only theoretical Juanita until you get to take care of a loved one's estate. Ah yes, the largesse. Where it can be pointless to file the paperwork and pay the lawyer to get control of a bank account due to all the fees.

I have taken care of loved ones' estates. I didn't encounter the kind of difficulty you describe. My parents left a simple and modest estate and very little of it went to either lawyers or taxes. Perhaps my family was lucky. Or my parents planned it well.

Oregon is a great place to die, thanks to a humane option for hastening death with a legal prescription, surrounded by loved ones, rather than with Dr. Shotgun as is more popular elsewhere.

People who obsess about estate taxes spend every day dying a little, carelessly wasting their fleeting time here on the hoarding impulse. Nobody who is even remotely close to being hit with the estate tax has any basis for objecting to it save for greed. Inherited wealth is a curse, both to the receiver and to the society that permits it.

Oregon is one of only two states that allow for physician assisted end of life care. I happen to think this is a wonderful state to die in if you face a terminal disease. At least one can go out on top instead of becoming a vegetable in a constant state of pain and humiliation.

At least one can go out on top instead of becoming a vegetable

You misunderstand: Oregon excels at one thing, and that is growing vegetables. If you doubt me, look at your governor - or Portland City Council.

Not to be picky, but I have to argue that it's not the dying here, but the living here, that is the problem in this context.

People who obsess about estate taxes spend every day dying a little,

Maybe so, but estate taxes are especially vexing in that for so many people they can largely be avoided with a bit of careful and expert planning.

You know there's a thing called tax "compression" for property taxation in Oregon. Tax compression caps some Portland homeowners' property taxes, depending on real market value (assessed) and taxable assessed value.

I think this concept of tax compression should be broadly applied to all government taxes and fees such that no one could be taxed and fee'd by all forms of government in total at no more than say 30 to 40% of his or her incomes. The beauty of such cap would be citizens would not have to devote as much time and effort as currently to fight against higher taxation, and government would actually be forced to prioritize what it spends its tax and fee revenues on. Individuals would have a degree of certainty allowing them to be productive without fear of heavy handed confiscation by government.

I just noticed the Adams-end clock. It's great.

Bob Clark,
Could we be so lucky that Adams would be offered a job
somewhere else before that clock runs out?

Adams-end clock

Good work. Now, could you run it faster, please?

"Oregon is a great place to die, thanks to a humane option for hastening death with a legal prescription, surrounded by loved ones, rather than with Dr. Shotgun as is more popular elsewhere.

People who obsess about estate taxes spend every day dying a little, carelessly wasting their fleeting time here on the hoarding impulse. Nobody who is even remotely close to being hit with the estate tax has any basis for objecting to it save for greed. Inherited wealth is a curse, both to the receiver and to the society that permits it.

Posted by George Anonymuncule Seldes"

This is a VERY disturbing opinion. It is like you believe that the state is owned by the Government and that we are so lucky that it "lets" us hang out here. NO, it is owned by us and we form a government to do enforce private property rules and the sanctity of contracts. What you seem to propose sounds a lot like a nice 3rd World dictatorship or monarchy. Luckily we don't have a savage dictator or king that "lets" us live in his state.

Sorry, copied and pasted the wrong quote!

I was responding to Juanita.

"If I am dead, I plan not to worry about estate taxes. Until then, the issue is only theoretical. Let my lucky heirs share the largesse with the state that lets me live here, enjoy its bounty and lets me walk on the beaches when I want to.

Posted by Juanita | February 8, 2012 5:55 PM"