"In the decades before our nation was born, colonists came to America to escape the tyranny of the crown and the powerful aristocracies that dominated much of Europe. Carving out their space on new soil, these colonists sought to create an economy built on merit and the equity of one’s own sweat, not the aristocratic bloodlines of one’s predecessors. [...]

[B]y the dawn of the 20th Century, America began to see vast sums of wealth concentrated into the hands of a very few industrialists and railroad barons. [...]

It was in this environment that President Theodore Roosevelt led the charge for a federal estate tax [...] Almost 100 years after its creation, Congress is poised to cast a crucial vote on the estate tax, a vote that could either weaken or strengthen what is left of the estate tax [...]

At the same time, the revenue raised from the estate tax supports vital public structures and systems – transportation and energy infrastructure, education and healthcare, among others. These essential structures lay the foundation of broad-based prosperity and economic stability for the next generation.  In the end, the estate tax is fundamentally about recycling opportunity for all."

Read the full op-ed by UFE's Executive Director, Brian Miller, on AlterNet.