Bush/Media distort"new" "middle class tax cut"that sends 2/3rds to top 20%

[papau]

Bush/Media distort "new" "middle class tax cut" that sends 2/3rds to top 20%

www.Misleader.org
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, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1338421&l=58038.
2. "New 'Middle-Class' Tax-Cut Bill Represents Cynical Policymaking," Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 9/23/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1338421&l=58039.
3. Ibid, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1338421&l=58039.
4. Ibid, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1338421&l=58039.
5. "Lawmakers Can't Resist Voting to Extend Bush's Tax Cuts," Los Angeles Times, 9/24/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1338421&l=58040.
6. Ibid., http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1338421&l=58040
7. Ibid., http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1338421&l=58040