Well...we may be beating this to death.
What is difficult is to get all the nuances into one post. Going back to my original thoughts when posting along these lines...is...often the wealth of family businesses and/or generational farms is tied up in the hard assets. The wealth may not liquid. The government wants liquid money.
Another point is that it often is only the first generation that has the primary wealth. As the family business is inherited thru the 2nd and 3rd generations...that wealth is diluted.
Often you end up with shareholders that do not have the liquid means to pay the tax ....so the business must be sold. They may or may not be wiped out...it really depends on the situation. I do know of family businesses that sold and turned most of the proceeds over to the IRS.
My point...is somewhat similar to part of the health care debate. People think it a travesty that anyone in the U.S. loose their house or go bankrupt to pay for health care. The same thing can happen in family businesses and farms...to pay the tax man. With the exemption now at 5 million it will not happen like before but....who knows what the exclusion will be going forward. Hey...that's what we need for health care.!!! A lifetime exclusion!!!!