Scaife vs. Scaife
One of the living, breathing arguments for a stiff inheritance tax and high taxes in general on the wealthy continues to be Richard Mellon Scaife, the Greensburg, Pa., newspaper publisher who more than any other person promoted and funded the rise of the crazy right over the past 25 years. Among other things, Scaife funded the "Arkansas Project" that sought to dig up dirt on Bill and Hillary Clinton and did much to make American politics the current snakepit that it is. Scaife publishes the Greensburg/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, but his real money is inherited. You can read more about Scaife's role in the rise of extreme American conservatism in David Brock's book, "Blinded By the Right."
So it is with no small amount of schadenfreude that I give you the link to a story in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about a lawsuit filed by Margaret "Ritchie" Scaife against her husband seeking return of a few, small trinkets from the household, and her little dog, too. Among the items is the painting by Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte, "Man With Derby Hat," valued, probably conservatively, at $1 million. The Scaifes have been separated since last year. Kudos to whomever dug this one out of the county courthouse in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, and to the Post-Gazette for publishing it.