I'm tired of typing, so here's a good take on why I support the estate tax: http://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/ten-facts-you-should-know-about-the-federal-estate-tax?fa=view&id=2655
EDIT: and here's a related USNews article about it: https://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/2015/03/27/facts-dont-back-estate-tax-repeal
From that article to address knapplc's concerns:
I usually don't post much on the board but this portion of the article caught my eye. I don't agree that the real estate isn't taxed. Large and small farm operations, commercial real estate (I.E. rental houses, commercial building non-residential use Etc.) are all taxable on the state level in terms of the land. Maybe I misinterpreted the article but are they stating that the estate tax needs to be larger to combat this?