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A Daily Chronicle of Bush Administration Distortion September 24, 2004

     

Administration Distorts Who Benefits from Tax Cut



The administration and most of the mainstream press are billing the tax package passed by Congress yesterday as a "middle class tax-cut."1 The reality is that the new law is more of the same: tax cuts that benefit the rich and, in many cases, exclude the neediest families.

An analysis from the Urban Institute-Brookings Tax Policy Center shows that the middle 20 percent of earners "will receive an average tax cut of $162 in 2005 from this legislation."2 The top fifth of earners, however, "will get an average tax cut of $1,317."3 As a result, the top fifth will receive two-thirds of all benefits.4

The bill excluded a provision that would have extended the child tax credit to four million low-income families who currently don't qualify.5 Extending eligibility to these families would have cost $4 billion.6 Meanwhile, conservatives included $12 billion in tax cuts for corporations.7

Sources:
  1. "Congress Extends Middle-Class Tax Breaks," The Kansas City Star, 9/24/04.
  2. "New 'Middle-Class' Tax-Cut Bill Represents Cynical Policymaking," Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 9/23/04.
  3. Ibid.
  4. Ibid.
  5. "Lawmakers Can't Resist Voting to Extend Bush's Tax Cuts," Los Angeles Times, 9/24/04.
  6. Ibid.
  7. Ibid.



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