Supporters of repealing the estate tax say the legislation would save family farms and businesses and lift a terrible and unfair burden. I happen to be fortunate enough to be eligible for the tax benefits of this legislation, and so I wish I could convince myself to believe the proponents’ rhetoric. Unfortunately, it just isn’t so.

The truth is that repealing the estate tax would give a huge tax windfall to the wealthiest 2% of Americans. It would provide an average tax cut of more than $7 million to taxpayers who inherit estates worth more than $10 million. For the rest of the public, it is a cruel hoax. Heirs of estates valued at $1.35 million or less per couple—the vast majority of estates—would get a tax cut of exactly zero. They are already exempt from the federal estate tax.

The estate tax is perhaps the most efficient tax in the Internal Revenue Code. Other taxes can distort economic decisions that consumers, workers and businesses make. An excise tax can change the amount of a good that a consumer will purchase. An income or payroll tax can affect the number of hours someone chooses to work. In contrast, the estate tax has no effect on daily business transactions and does not inhibit the creators of wealth. On the contrary, it may encourage their heirs to lead productive lives.

Perhaps the only potent argument in favor of abolishing the estate tax is that it accounts for less than 1% of all federal taxes collected. That is because there are so many legal ways to avoid it. I do not like paying taxes any more than the next fellow. I am devoting a large part of my wealth to philanthropy using charitable trusts that will not be taxed as part of my estate. I would be dishonest if I claimed that this consideration had nothing to do with my decision.

In 1997 more than $60 billion was held in charitable trusts. That same year, taxable estates reported more than $7 billion in charitable donations. Abolishing the estate tax would remove one of the main incentives for charitable giving. College presidents and directors of cultural and charitable organizations ought to be out in force lobbying against it. It is no exaggeration to say that the Death Tax Elimination Act of 2000 would seriously fray our social fabric.

While the country as a whole is getting richer, the gap between the rich and poor is getting wider. Education, health care, the inner city, the digital divide, drug abuse and the abuse of the fight against drug abuse—we are all familiar with the nation’s real problems. One has to wonder about the mindset of the Republican leadership when they give priority to the repeal of the estate tax.

So I say to the Republican leaders in Congress, thanks for thinking of me—but no thanks. Please keep the estate tax in place and use the proceeds where it will really count: to better the lives not of people who have already realized the American dream, but of people still seeking to achieve it.