During the September 19 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, right-wing radio host Neal Boortz attacked defenders of a federal estate tax, stating, "[A]s much as it disturbs the followers of Karl Marx, yes, I want the death tax over with." When co-host Alan Colmes responded, “I'm a Marxist now, I see,” Boortz responded, “I want it all gone,” holding up a copy of the book he co-wrote with Rep. John Linder (R-GA), The FairTax Book (ReganBooks, August 2005). The book relies on several deceptive claims to advocate replacing the federal tax system with a national retail sales tax, as Media Matters for America has documented.

In addition to Colmes, others whom Boortz would presumably deem “followers of Karl Marx” for their support of the estate tax include President Theodore Roosevelt (who proposed the first estate tax in a 1906 address to Congress) and steel mogul Andrew Carnegie (who wrote the following about inheritance taxes in his book The Gospel of Wealth: “Of all forms of taxation, this seems the wisest”).

From the September 19 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

COLMES: So they should not have -- are you in favor of tax cuts? You want to have more tax cuts at a time -- you want to cut the state taxes at a time when they're still struggling to pay for it and help the rich? Is that what you want to do?

SEAN HANNITY (co-host): Absolutely.

BOORTZ: As much -- as much as it disturbs the followers of Karl Marx, yes, I want the death tax over with.

COLMES: I'm a Marxist now, I see. OK.

BOORTZ: As a matter of fact, Alan, glad you mentioned that. I want it all gone, OK? [Holds up a copy of The FairTax Book]