Jun 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Barry A. Nelson, partner, Nelson & Levine, P.A., North Miami Beach, Fla.

By: By Barry A. Nelson, partner, Nelson & Levine, P.A., North Miami Beach, Fla.

Why is it that so many secretaries and mid-level employees believe the estate tax should be permanently repealed? How is it that the gay and lesbian community favor repeal? Why did the congressional black caucus hold a press conference denouncing the “death tax”? How did the estate tax repeal movement capture the high ground by coining that catchy phrase, “death tax”? Why have charities and the life insurance industry, knowing they'll suffer significant adverse consequences in the wake of repeal, stayed on the sidelines during the debate? All of these questions, and more, are answered in the recently published Death by a Thousand Cuts by Yale University professors Michael J. Graetz and Ian Shapiro (Princeton University Press, 2005).

The professors interviewed players in the estate tax debate, including congressmen, senators, staffers from key committees, civil servants, think-tankers and interest group representatives.

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