What if there was a way to create jobs for North Carolina's working families now — and help everyone from kindergartners to adults changing careers get a high-quality education at the same time?

And what if this method had been proven to work for more than a century? What if it had drawn bipartisan endorsements from our most well-respected leaders? Finally, what if it could help maintain the public structures that create a robust middle class, the foundation of American prosperity?

We're all in luck. We have just such a method. It's called the estate tax.

The estate tax is our fairest tax, a levy on wealth rather than work. It affects less than one-quarter of one-percent of households, but it creates opportunities for the vast majority of Americans.

Making estate tax policy is one of the two most important economic tasks Congress faces in the coming weeks. We have to make sure our legislators understand that if we want economic growth and jobs, we have to take advantage of this proven strategy.

The estate tax was instituted by Teddy Roosevelt with the stated rationale to "break up the swollen fortunes of the rich." These days, that kind of talk might get you called a socialist. Back then – and indeed, through most of our country's history – it was understood that America works best with a strong middle class.

At a time when the deficit is ballooning and the middle class is struggling, the estate tax can ride to our fiscal rescue for three reasons: it's fair; it will help us fix the deficit; and it will provide fuel for the engine of North Carolina's economic prosperity, our state's middle class.

IT'S FAIR

No estate worth less than $7 million – or $3.5 million if it's owned by an individual, not a family — is subject to the estate tax.

That's why more than 99.7 percent of estates are exempt, and why only 379 of the North Carolinians who died in 2009 owed any estate tax at all. Yet the revenue that tiny number of estates provided sent thousands of kids to school and kept numerous corrections officers employed making our streets safer.

Those extremely rare estates that are subject to the tax are taxed at extremely low rates – on average less than 20 percent, which is far less than what most Americans pay in income tax. This isn't a soak-the-rich effort: it's a common-sense economic strategy.

IT HELPS STEM THE DEFICIT

For all the talk of spending, it's tax expenditures – rolling back fair and successful established tax policies – that represent a far greater cause of the deficit.

The Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which did nothing to stimulate the economy, will add over $1 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. These types of tax expenditures are nothing if not deficit-exploding policies.

The Bush tax cuts are a wrecking ball that will devastate our nation's financial house if not allowed to expire on schedule.

The estate tax, by contrast, is an essential building block in that financial house. Eliminating the federal estate tax would add $1 trillion to the federal debt over the next 10 years.

If Congress does the right thing on both policies, we can swiftly add a $2 trillion positive swing to our nation's balance sheet.

IT CREATES OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL

Supporting the public structures that protect the middle class — public schools and college loan programs, roads and infrastructure that help business and create jobs – paves the way for economic growth and prosperity for everyone.

Without a federal estate tax, North Carolina would lose more than $85 million each year. What could we do with that money here in our state? A few examples:

• Create 2,500 jobs through a small-business job creation grant program
• Extend health insurance to almost 36,000 low-income children through NC Health Choice
• Train 5,666 students for new jobs in high-demand occupations via our community college system
• Provide more than 14,000 slots of high-quality pre-kindergarten for children from low-income households
• Employ almost 1,600 teachers

These public structures create opportunities for North Carolina's citizens – opportunities that help them create better lives for themselves, their children, and all of us.

Republican president Teddy Roosevelt said in signing the estate tax bill that there was no benefit in hoarding opportunity for the few – but great benefit in spreading prosperity. It was good policy a century ago. It's even more badly needed now.

Jeff Shaw is Director of Communications at the North Carolina Justice Center