I can't figure out why most people are happy to let Congress kill the estate tax. Maybe Diane Lim Rogers, Research Director for Budgeting for National Priorities, has the answer. She says many members of Congress have taken to referring to the estate tax as the "death tax," implying that, like death, it is a tax that looms for all Americans.

Instead of calling the estate tax a "death" tax, Rogers says we should call it a "birth" tax because it will impose a much greater financial burden on our children and grandchildren -- at least another $3000 to the inherited share of the public debt that is, to date, $28,000 per American.

She argues that repealing the estate tax would swap a "death tax," which affects hardly anyone, for a higher "birth tax," which would be universal and seriously detrimental to future economic growth.

The House has already passed a repeal of the estate tax. Senate Majority Leader Frist has vowed to bring the matter to a vote next week in the Senate.