New Tax for the Rich

President Obama’s plan to raise $318 billion to finance his health care overhaul through limiting tax deductions for America’s wealthiest is running a little short—$60 billion short, to be precise. The administration is now scrambling to find new ways to fill the hole in the financing of the sweeping reforms, and is proposing tighter rules for inheritance taxes on the nation’s wealthiest estates. Just three-tenths of 1 percent of estates each year would be affected by the stricter tax rules. But getting the estate tax passed is the least of Obama’s problems: Congress is opposing the deduction limits, which would raise $266.7 billion over 10 years, on the grounds that they would lower charitable donations among the wealthy.