the so-called death tax

No sooner do I write something complimentary about Ron Paul than he says something with which I disagree. He is in favor of repealing the so-called Death Tax (to be fair to Paul, he's in favor or repealing all taxes). The Estate Tax allows up to $2,000,000 tax-free to go to beneficiaries before the rest is taxed (usually at around 20%), so what's the problem?

While all the Republican candidates (and one, at least publicly, Democratic candidate) beat the war drums for Iran, the sole dissenter, Ron Paul, is called marginal. Every poll shows the American public now views the Iraq war as a mistake and wants troops out now, yet the politicians either drag their feet on getting out or move to getting this country involved in yet another war. Since politicians always have an eye on the polls and rarely do anything damaging to their electability, this current bunch must either have great convictions or are deeply conditioned to employ fear on the campaign trail. I'm going for pavlovian conditioning rather than conviction.