The superwealthy are at it again–lead by those leading lights at the Wal-Mart family. They are trying to effectively rob every one of us of the chance to have decent housing, healthcare, parks…you name it, all the things the government makes possible because we can’t pay for that stuff on our own. Of course, the superwealthy can buy all that stuff so why should they care if they drain our pockets of tens of billions of dollars.

Ah, how you might ask? We’ve talked alot here about the fight to eliminate the estate tax–that tax that heirs pay when an estate lands in their hands. As I pointed out many months ago, some conservatives, acting as a front for the superrich, have tried to frame the tax as something hurting small farmers and a whole lot of unfortunate Americans. Well, nonsense–it’s a tax that hits such a small number of people (3,500) that you could easily fit them into Madison Square Garden during a Knicks game and still have seats leftover for any fan crazy enough to want to watch such a woeful team.

Thanks to the fine folks at Public Citizen and United for A Fair Economy we now learn that 18 families of the superwealthy have been secretly financing the campaign to eliminate the estate tax:

Members of a handful of super-wealthy families have quietly helped finance and coordinate a
massive campaign to repeal the estate tax.

These families – the members of which own the first and third largest privately held companies
in the United States and hold about a 40 percent share in the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart –
stand to save a whopping $71.6 billion if their bid succeeds.

They have relied on their fortunes, the resources of their companies and their business
connections to marshal a massive anti-estate tax juggernaut that has reported nearly a half-billion
dollars in lobbying expenditures ($490.3 million) since 1998.

The families also have helped finance outside groups that have spent millions on fear-mongering
ad campaigns intended to sway public opinion against the estate tax. These ads have shamelessly
retailed myths that the estate tax is responsible for wrecking small businesses and family farms,
and that regular Americans should fear a crushing tax bill when their loved ones die.

So, think about this: every time you walk into a Wal-Mart, you’re giving a few more bucks to the Walton family to finance a campaign to undercut the ability of some person getting affordable housing or some young person getting a government-backed scholarship for college because, ultimately, the tens of billions of dollars the superwealthy pocket because of their insatiable greed will be money we don’t have to ensure a decent society.

You can read the rest of this fascinating, and troubling, report here.