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The money was already taxed. I have no problem taxing transactions that have a value add. When I get paid a wage I have created that wealth a tax on the newly created wealth is fine.

No wealth is created when an estate gets handed over. The tax thus stops being a way to assign a percentage of wealth to public projects and becomes a accounting trick. The idea that this simple wealth transfer should be taxed at such a high rate is slly.

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No less an extremist as Thomas Jefferson supported the estate tax, and we still have it for many good reasons. This article talks about it better than I could:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2010/10/estate_tax_...

The entire principle behind estate taxes, which are only relevant to those with significant estates, is to prevent the massive accumulation of wealth by a tiny minority.

The United States, as conceived, was a departure from the European system comprised mostly of wealthy land owners and destitute peasants.

In a sense, the estate tax is an unfortunate necessity. Without it you would have Paris Hilton inheriting billions absolutely tax free, and likely accumulating even more wealth not by any particular skill, but through interest alone. That much money has a sort of gravitational pull at that point if not mis-managed.

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