For years, the estate tax on the very richest people has been an issue, for the wealthy are bombarded on every side by the threat of being stripped of their yachts and diamonds and estates and being sent to the poorhouse.

But there has been a backdoor solution put in place to protect this threatened species: the IRS is downsizing by half the unit of IRS lawyers who audit estate-tax returns. If the returns cannot be audited (and huge amounts of money recovered by straightening out fraudulent claims), then the rich run less risk of impending poverty for themselves, their cronies and their heirs.

I'm so proud to live in a society that refuses to establish a living minimum wage for its poorest workers but extends every effort to protect the most wealthy. It warms my heart to know that the powerful protect their own.