One of the big debates in our nation’s Capitol concerns the estate or death tax. During 2010, there is no estate tax. This explains why the heirs of George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, saved $500 million in federal estate taxes. If you are very wealthy, it pays to die this year.

However, 2011 is a totally different matter. If nothing is done, then heirs of those deceased in 2011 will have only a $l million exemption. Anything over $1 million will be taxed at 55 percent.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that the death tax could take billions of dollars from the estates of average Americans. Many people have $1 million estates if you include all their assets.

Those who favor the taxing of a million-dollar estate at 55 percent do so because they want more revenue for the federal government. These are the folks who believe that Uncle Sam knows best how to spend our money.

I am unequivocally against all estate taxes. For me, this is highway robbery. It is absolutely wrong for the federal government to take money from productive people. When someone works hard to make a living, he should never be forced to give it to incompetent government bureaucrats.

There are many reasons why I don’t like taxes. As the National Taxpayers’ Union has repeatedly said, half of what we send to Washington is wasted. Recently it was reported that medical professionals and others had ripped off Medicare and Medicaid for millions of dollars. This goes on all the time.

Even the military wastes tax money. Sen. John McCain and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates often criticize some in the military for their liberal spending. Several years ago the military paid thousands of dollars for toilet seats at inflated prices.

If our congressmen and senators spent our money wisely and conservatively, I would not be upset. But it really ticks me off when they waste the money they take from us. Again, I thank the Tea Party members for standing up to big-spending bureaucrats.

The only fair tax is a national sales tax. The wealthy would pay much more than anyone else because they would buy more. People would be taxed only if they bought something. I believe it would encourage people to save more money.

Yes, there are already people in Washington who want the death tax to come back in 2011. They cry that the more we tax people, the stronger our republic will be.

I beg to differ. Like the great Ronald Reagan, I am convinced that you and I know best how to spend our money. We don’t need people like Harry Reid telling us what to do.

Larry Summerour of Troup County is a retired pastor who enjoys political commentary.