I'd love to understand how any supports estate taxes other than just gouging rich people after they died
Redistribution of wealth without directly penalizing the earner of said wealth. It's a clear win, and it only affects the super-rich anyways.
Is a $5.5 million threshold (including real estate, stock portfolio, and [small] businesses) truly at the "super-rich" level, though?
So odd to have the connotation on super rich as a negative.
Not really.
'Super rich' people are inherently bad?
It is from where most Americans sit.
But I'd be fine tweaking it to exclude [small] businesses and some real estate (the family home, the [small] farm, and such).
But why the negative connotation? Does the default condition of these people merit that?
I don't know. "Super rich", to me, is somebody like Jeff Bezos, who makes $52 million per day.
A person with $5.5 million in total assets is ... well off.
But, yeah, small businesses should absolutely be excluded and I think there should be a cap (relative to any number of things, such as charitable giving or cumulative income taxes paid) on how much can be collected.
Most Americans don't have the sort of economic privilege to appreciate or care about that distinction. I contend that $5.5 million in total assets is substantially better than "well off".