What the MSM still isn't saying about Bush's tax cuts
One of the more aggravating aspects of the last two presidential elections was the lack of honest reporting when it came to Bush's tax cuts for America's richest. On so many levels, they opted to transcribe his supply-side nonsense rather than doing the obvious-- telling us the numbers. When Democrats tried to do just that, it was treated as he-said/he-said, as though we hadn't already seen the negative results of "voodoo economics" during the Reagan era. This CNN piece on the extensions adopts the new standard for objectivity in reporting-- letting both sides say whatever they want and dodging any real analysis.
But there are other aspects of it the media also ignores-- is it appropriate to pass sweepingupper-class tax cuts when fighting a war on two fronts? When the nation is some 4 trillion dollars in debt? When the wealthiest people in America are already seeing huge gains in their annual income? When working-class Americans' wages aren't keeping up with inflation?
Congressional Democrats are rightly pointing out the GOP's unwillingness to pass tax cuts when it comes to financing education (John Boehner successfully pushed for higher interest rates on college loans), and in the final version of this bill, Republicans had removed provisions that allowed tuition cost deductions and closed tax loopholes that benefit big oil. Each amounted to about $5 billion in tax revenue, and the GOP opted to put the burden on families instead of companies earning record profits.
but as David Cay Johnston's piece in the New York Times observes, the only substantial cuts go to those earning more than $1,000,000 per year. Middle class families will see tax cuts of maybe $20 per month. Unless middle class means an income of less than $75,000 per year. Then you'll get less than $10 per month.
The total cost in tax revenue to the nation?
The official estimate of the bill's cost, on Monday, was $69 billion. But this assumed that the tax breaks would be in place for only a year or two. If they were to continue for the next decade — which President Bush and his Republican supporters want — the cost would be more than 15 times as great, estimates by the Congressional Budget Office, an arm of Congress, showed.
If you have a strong stomach, you might look at Johnston's book "Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else." I couldn't take it for too long, but it's a chilling look at how the true tax cheats aren't Reagan's mythical "welfare queens," but CEOs who are already earning more than 400 times the salary of the average worker.
But there are other aspects of it the media also ignores-- is it appropriate to pass sweepingupper-class tax cuts when fighting a war on two fronts? When the nation is some 4 trillion dollars in debt? When the wealthiest people in America are already seeing huge gains in their annual income? When working-class Americans' wages aren't keeping up with inflation?
Congressional Democrats are rightly pointing out the GOP's unwillingness to pass tax cuts when it comes to financing education (John Boehner successfully pushed for higher interest rates on college loans), and in the final version of this bill, Republicans had removed provisions that allowed tuition cost deductions and closed tax loopholes that benefit big oil. Each amounted to about $5 billion in tax revenue, and the GOP opted to put the burden on families instead of companies earning record profits.
but as David Cay Johnston's piece in the New York Times observes, the only substantial cuts go to those earning more than $1,000,000 per year. Middle class families will see tax cuts of maybe $20 per month. Unless middle class means an income of less than $75,000 per year. Then you'll get less than $10 per month.
The total cost in tax revenue to the nation?
The official estimate of the bill's cost, on Monday, was $69 billion. But this assumed that the tax breaks would be in place for only a year or two. If they were to continue for the next decade — which President Bush and his Republican supporters want — the cost would be more than 15 times as great, estimates by the Congressional Budget Office, an arm of Congress, showed.
If you have a strong stomach, you might look at Johnston's book "Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else." I couldn't take it for too long, but it's a chilling look at how the true tax cheats aren't Reagan's mythical "welfare queens," but CEOs who are already earning more than 400 times the salary of the average worker.
posted by Matt Sandwich | 3:46 PM
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