I'm sorry, but you don't know what you're talking about. The gift tax exemption is not $10k, that's the point you have to fill out a form telling the IRS about the gift.

You have a lifetime gift exemption of $12.06 million. The first twelve million dollars you give away is tax-free. Recipients (almost) never pay tax on what they get, it's a tax on the gifter.

Estate tax is also a cool $12.06 million dollars. No working person is ever hitting either of these limits. Conservative news goes on and on about the death and gift taxes because they want working people to be mad about taxes that will only ever hit the extraordinarily wealthy.