Spend It in Vegas or Die Paying Taxes

Whether you are a tax conservative or a friend of Las Vegas, you'll enjoy this op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal which, among other things, says:

"Today in America you can take your after-tax income and go to Las Vegas and carouse, gamble, drink and smoke, and as far as our government is concerned that's just fine. But if you take that same after-tax income and leave it to your children and grandchildren, the government will tax that after-tax income one additional time at rates up to 55%. I especially like an oft-quoted line from Joseph Stiglitz and David L. Bevan, who wrote in the Greek Economic Review, 'Of course, prohibitively high inheritance tax rates generate no revenue; they simply force the individual to consume his income during his lifetime.' Hurray for Vegas."