mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman from california ( mr. stark )  for yielding me this time .  mr. speaker , the gentleman from florida said i want members to give me a good reason why we should not repeal the estate tax .  let me give members two good reasons : afghanistan and iraq .  the idea that we would be borrowing the money to pay for afghanistan and iraq when by just leaving this tax in place we could pay for those incursions and maybe get the humvees to those men and women who are defending us every single day , or maybe get bulletproof vests to them on time , borrowing the money .  the slogan of the moderate republican party is this : we are rich , and we are not going to take it any more .  it is day after day in this institution , borrow money , run up the debt , run up the deficits and then with a straight face say , we are going to repeal a tax that affects 1 percent of the american people , just 1 percent of the american people .  they talk about industriousness and thrift and the work ethic .  we see what happens to this money when it gets to the fourth and fifth generation of the same family : thrift is gone , the work ethic is gone .  they quarrel about who is going to have enough money so they can enjoy the lavish ways of american life .  when i hear people say , as they have said recently in this debate , well it is going to take care of the family farmer , they can not find a farmer that is not taken care of in the legislation that is about to be proposed here .  this legislation that they are proposing today cuts against the grain of what thomas payne reminded us in `` common sense. '' he was concerned about hereditary power , the idea that the same people would control the wealth of america with the same families that would get to go to the same schools so the same families would have the same doctors and lawyers and accountants so the rest of america might not have a chance to participate .  whatever happened to the republican party in america .  teddy roosevelt said this was about thrift and hard work and honesty ; they were blessed to be born in this country .  that is what patriotism is .  when we look at who enjoys the fruits of this money , the smallest number of american people , again the top 1 percent in america .  inherited wealth , that is not what america is based upon .  we do not live in an aristocracy .  look what happened to europe and the way they lag behind as they do .  there is no sense in the house of lords that you can advance yourself .  here in this house , the people 's house , every walk of life is represented .  why do we just not establish a house of lords after we get rid of the estate tax so then when we get rid of hereditary power , we will simply have the permanent state of aristocracy and privilege for the few .  