posted on August 14, 2004 08:35:17 AMThank You President Bush.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's tax cuts since 2001 have shifted more of the tax burden from the nation's rich to middle-class families, according to a study released Friday by the Congressional Budget Office.
The tax rate declined across all income levels - but more so in the top brackets, the report said.
People in the top 20 percent of incomes, averaging $182,700 a year, saw their share of federal taxes decline from 65.3 percent of total payments in 2001 to 63.5 percent this year, according to the study by congressional budget analysts.
In contrast, middle-class taxpayers - with incomes ranging from $51,500 to $75,600 - bear a greater tax burden. Those making an average of $75,600 had the biggest jump in their share of taxes, from 18.5 percent of all payments in 2001 to 19.5 percent this year.
The study, requested by congressional Democrats in May, is expected to provide fodder for the presidential campaign over the fairness of more than $1 trillion in tax cuts Bush has pushed through Congress since taking office.
"George W. Bush keeps trying to mislead Americans into thinking we're turning the corner, but truth is that he is turning his back on middle-class families," Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said. "The Bush policies are exacerbating the squeeze that working families have been feeling for the last four years."
Bush-Cheney campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said, "Because of President Bush's policies every American pays less in taxes today than they did before he became president...John Kerry has promised to raise taxes during the campaign. That is the clear choice Americans will have in the fall elections."
The study found that the effective tax rate for the top 1 percent of taxpayers dropped from 33 percent in 2001 to 26.7 percent this year, a decline of 19 percent. The middle 20 percent of taxpayers saw a decline of 4 percent.
The study is based on figures in 2001 and assumes no changes in wealth distribution from increases in income, dividends or capital gains.
posted on August 14, 2004 03:09:13 PM
who is paying more??
if 1 % amounts to 5,000 for upper tax bracket and 1.5 % amounts to 1250 for middle
class??
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on August 14, 2004 06:03:54 PM
Microsoft enjoyed more than $12 billion in total tax breaks over the past five years. In fact, Microsoft actually paid no tax at all in 1999, despite $12.3 billion in reported U.S. profits. Microsoft’s tax rate for the past two years was only 1.8 percent on $21.9 billion in pretax U.S. profits.
General Electric, America’s most profitable corporation, reported $50.8 billion in U.S. profits over the past five years, but paid only 11.5 percent of that in federal income taxes. That low tax rate reflected almost $12 billion in corporate tax welfare for GE.
Ford enjoyed $9.1 billion in corporate tax welfare over the past five years. It reported $18.6 billion in U.S. profits over the past two years, but paid a tax rate of only 5.7 percent.
Worldcom paid no taxes at all in two of the last three years, despite reported U.S. profits of $15.2 billion. Worldcom’s total tax rate over the three years was only 1.6%. Corporate tax welfare slashed Worldcom’s tax bill by $5.3 billion over the past five years.
IBM reported $5.7 billion in U.S. profits in 2000, but paid only 3.4 percent of that in federal income taxes. In 1997, IBM reported $3.1 billion in U.S. profits, and instead of paying taxes, got an outright tax rebate. Over the past five years, IBM enjoyed a total of $4.7 billion in corporate tax welfare.
General Motors paid no taxes at all in three of the last five years, despite $12.5 billion in reported U.S. profits. GM’s tax rate for the past three years was negative 1.3 percent. Its corporate tax welfare totaled $3.6 billion over the past five years.
Enron paid no income taxes at all in four of the past five years, despite $1.8 billion in reported U.S. profits. Enron’s total taxes over the five years were a negative $381 million. Its corporate tax welfare totaled $1.0 billion.
El Paso Energy reported $1.6 billion in U.S. profits over the past five years, but paid less than nothing in federal income taxes, getting tax rebates of $254 million. El Paso’s tax rate over the five years was negative 15.5 percent. Its corporate welfare totaled $827 million.
Colgate-Palmolive paid no taxes at all in three of the past five years, despite $1.6 billion in reported U.S. profits. Colgate’s total tax rate over the five years was negative 1.3 percent, due to $595 million in corporate tax welfare.
Navistar, on $1.4 billion in U.S. profits over the past five years, paid only $28 million in federal income taxes, a tax rate of only 2 percent. Navistar’s corporate tax welfare totaled $451 million.
posted on August 14, 2004 06:19:24 PM
When bush first proposed this plan a group of Nobel prize winners in ECONOMICS took out a full page ad I think in the New York Times.
They said the richest people would get the biggest tax breaks, middle and low middle income people would be hurt the worst and the plan would do nothing to "jump start" the economy.
Surprise ! They were right!
However, these are ONLY Nobel prize winners and I'm sure some neocon here will dispute them because some posters are SO much smarter.......
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we! They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” ~ George W. Bush, 8/5/04
posted on August 15, 2004 10:19:25 AM
Hey crowfarm, I often wondered how the republicans get away with discounting what MOST of smartest people in this country say. People like Nobel prize winning economics and others like college teachers are quoited when the republicans like what they say. If the republicans don't like what they hear form these smart people they are labeled,elitist,liberals,communist. THE REPUBLICANS ON THIS BOARD SPEAK WITH A FORKED TONGUE AND CANNOT BE BELIEVED.
REAL AMERICANS WILL END THE REPUBLICAN CLASS WAR BY VOTING FOR JOHN KERRY AND JOHN EDWARDS.
[ edited by bigpeepa on Aug 15, 2004 10:22 AM ]
posted on August 16, 2004 05:32:09 PM
CBO: Tax cuts made system more progressive
Washington, DC, Aug. 16 (UPI) --
A Congressional Budget Office report says the share of federal income taxes paid by the highest earners has increased since the 2001 U.S. tax cuts.
The report compiled at the request of congressional Democrats, also shows the share of the tax-burden born by lower- and middle-income groups decreased even while rates have changed.
U.S. taxpayers face lower effective federal income tax rates than they would have without the tax cuts, the CBO said. The CBO also said the tax cuts did not shift the burden of taxation to the middle class, but instead made the tax system more progressive.
The highest 20 percent of earners now pay a larger share of federal income taxes than they would have without the tax cuts, while the share of income taxes paid by all other income groups fell.
The overwhelming majority of federal income taxes are paid by the very highest income earners, with the top 1 percent of income earners paying 31.6 percent of all income taxes, the CBO said.
The top 5 percent pay 51.41 percent;
the top 10 percent pay 63.5 percent;
and the top 20 percent of income earners pay 78.4 percent of all federal income taxes.
The bottom four-fifths of income earners pay just over one-fifth of all federal income taxes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"One thing is for sure: the extremists have faith in our weakness. And the weaker we are, the more they will come after us." --Tony Blair
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"The War on Terror will not be won until America is united. And as long as Democrats target the Bush administration -- not the terrorists -- as the enemy, we are in trouble." --Oliver North
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Those are only two reasons why we need to:
posted on August 16, 2004 05:52:27 PM
If kerry is elected [heaven forbid] we'll all see our taxes go up. Although he's promised to only raise taxes on those who make more than $200,000 - you know, the rich ....looks like he's doing another flip-flop and preparing us for what's to come, should he be given the chance.
----------
just for you, bunni -
----
08/13/04
Surprise! John Kerry Plans Clinton Style Tax Hikes
Candidate provides further evidence his plan is to impose across the board increases just like those in 1993
WASHINGTON - After campaigning for over a year on a promise to raise taxes on only the rich; John Kerry has finally made his plans crystal clear yesterday; he wants to stick middle class Americans with a huge tax hike.
In a speech yesterday, Kerry told his audience that he plans to follow Bill Clinton's model and do; "the same thing that we set out to do in 1993, and I was there and I voted for it, I know how we did it."
They did it; with the largest tax increase in American history.
"President Bush fought to give American Taxpayers the relief they needed"; said ATR President Grover Norquist. "John Kerry wants to turn around, destroy those cuts, and slam the American people with a huge Clinton style tax hike."
John Kerry voted twice in 1993 for Bill Clinton's tax bill, which the late Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) called the "biggest tax increase in history."
The legislation hit the middle class hard, increasing the marginal tax rates for those making between $30,000 and $100,000 per year and raising taxes on gasoline and social security.
Kerry said that he is "proud to have supported and voted for (Clinton's) economic plan."
"[b]John Kerry has repeatedly misled the American People by saying he only wants to raise taxes on
the rich[/b]"; continued Norquist. "Yesterday's statement demonstrates Kerry has every intention of implementing an across-the-board tax hike that will sting the middle class and working families nationwide."
On July 31, 2003, Kerry claimed on MSNBC's Hardball that "We Democrats balanced the budget without raising taxes on middle class Americans."
Kerry's claim contradicts his 1993 speech on the floor of the Senate, when he said, "I wish that we did not need to raise taxes (on the middle class), but this budget cannot be balanced without increasing taxes.
[b]Kerry apparently has a problem with telling the truth about both his record on tax increases and his intentions to raise them in the
future[/b].
-------
taken from:
Americans for Tax Reform is a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all federal and state tax increases. For more information or to arrange an interview please contact Chris Butler at (202)785-0266.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"One thing is for sure: the extremists have faith in our weakness. And the weaker we are, the more they will come after us." --Tony Blair
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"The War on Terror will not be won until America is united. And as long as Democrats target the Bush administration -- not the terrorists -- as the enemy, we are in trouble." --Oliver North
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Those are only two reasons why we need to: Re-elect President Bush!!!
[ edited by Linda_K on Aug 16, 2004 06:07 PM ]
posted on August 16, 2004 11:42:31 PM
Income Gap Up Over Two Decades, Data Show
Updated 5:31 PM ET August 16, 2004
By LEIGH STROPE
WASHINGTON (AP) - Over two decades, the income gap has steadily increased between the richest Americans, who own homes and stocks and got big tax breaks, and those at the middle and bottom of the pay scale, whose paychecks buy less.
The growing disparity is even more pronounced in this recovering economy. Wages are stagnant and the middle class is shouldering a larger tax burden. Prices for health care, housing, tuition, gas and food have soared.
The wealthiest 20 percent of households in 1973 accounted for 44 percent of total U.S. income, according to the Census Bureau. Their share jumped to 50 percent in 2002, while everyone else's fell. For the bottom fifth, the share dropped from 4.2 percent to 3.5 percent.
Jobs and the economy top the list of voter concerns this election year. President Bush touts a strong economy that is growing, but polls find that Americans have doubts and think jobs are scarce. John Kerry is trusted more on the economy, with Democrats talking regularly of "two Americas," divided between the rich and everyone else.
That argument has merit, some private economists say.
"For those working in the bottom half of the pay scale, they're under an enormous amount of pressure," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com.
New government data also shows that President Bush's tax cuts have shifted the overall tax burden to the middle class from the wealthiest Americans.
"We're just trying to get ahead." said Debbie Reames, 49, of Raytown, Mo., whose bank job of 24 years was sent overseas in February. "But it seems like we climb a few rungs and then we fall back again."
Reames has a new secretarial job, which pays $7,000 a year less than her bank job, and she works catering jobs for extra money. Her husband, Russ, can no longer work after an injury. One son is finishing college and another will start in the fall.
So the family budget tightened. That meant fewer cable channels, more meals at home, postponed doctor appointments, missed vacations, delayed credit card payments, all to "keep the wolf away from the door," she said.
The U.S. jobs market is soft, sending wages down. Hiring came to a near standstill last month, with companies adding just 32,000 new jobs overall, stunning economists who had expected seven times as many.
More than a million jobs have been added back to the 2.6 million lost since Bush took office, but they pay less and offer fewer benefits, such as health insurance. The new jobs are concentrated in health care, food services, and temporary employment firms, all lower-paying industries. Temp agencies alone account for about a fifth of all new jobs.
Three in five pay below the national median hourly wage _ $13.53, said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist for Wells Fargo.
On a weekly basis, the average wage of $525.84 is at the lowest level since October 2001.
The income gap is showing up in booming sales of luxury items. Porsche Cars North America Inc. says sales are up 17 percent for the year. Strong sales at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue overshadow lackluster sales at stores such as Wal-Mart, Sears and Payless Shoes.
Real estate agent Lance Anderson, 38, of Overland Park, Kan., expects a record sales year, as homeowners upgrade to more expensive homes and commercial clients expand.
Prevent Bigotry through Education.
....looks like he's doing another flip-flop and preparing us for what's to come, should he be given the chance.
