"It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place." - The Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol
Ok, I give up. The Bush tax cuts were ... wait for it ... progressive. Neal Boortz and the "free market" champions at the NCPA win ... my brain feels like its going to snap trying to keep up with all reality revision. Yes, our tax system has been growing more progressive for the last two decades.
Yeah, sure, these folks say different. But they gotta be liberals, right? And we know liberals are communists. And socialists. And fascists. It's not like you can expect communist Marxist socialist liberal fascist Progressives like David Cay Johnston to report the truth about how great the Bush tax cuts were for the middle class.
Update: I've seen the light I tell you. Soon, I'll write something explaining how the elimination of the estate tax is progressive because it primarily benefits the destitute.
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2 comments:
Interesting graphic you linked to. It defintely shows that the 2003 special tax cuts were not progressive.
However, as a whole I am struck by how progressive the overall system is with the notable exception of the those earning over 10 million a years.
How did those 6,126 people (.003 of a percent of taxpayers) manage to get an effective rate lower than that of people earning as much as 5% of their income???
That is my problem with the current Republican party, its a club that tries to protects its own interests. As a classical market liberal, I believe in the strength of free enterprise and low taxes. But that does not mean pandering only and specifically to super corporations and the uber-rich at the expense of the average business man and the working middle class.
Still as outrageous as it is that the uber rich caught the biggest break, it is nevertheless interesting to note that 6,000 taxpayers paid nearly as much taxes (35 billion) as did almost 100 million taxpayers (43 billion) who represent about 70% of all tax payers.
Where it seems less fair is that the other 30% of higher middle class to wealthy taxpayers are paying too much in comparision to the uber-rich or the bottom 70%.
You should check out David Cay Johnston's new book if you get a chance (I haven't yet myself.) His previous book is also an excellent resource about the deficiencies in our tax system.
Here's an interview he did with Moyers on the new book.
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