A better question would be how much did the Bush tax cuts cost the US Treasury?
Answer: $2.5 Trillion
But not to worry - what's left of the middle class will get that trickle down urine any minute now. It's all good.
Those tax cuts didn't cost the treasury anything. Americans were able to keep more of their money.
Incorrect. A cut in revenues to the US Treasury is a cut in revenues. And don't be so quick to suggest "Americans" were able to keep more of their money. Only the top 1% of these Americans realized substantial savings. The middle class got enough for a car payment, if they're were extremely lucky.
No amount of Newspeak or right wing dogma can challenge the fact today's top tax rate is half of what it was during Kennedy's time, and almost a third of Eisenhower's rate. Reagan started the ball rolling in the early eighties, and a dramatic acceleration of our wealth inequality followed immediately. We're now back in 1929 wealth distribution territory, and to believe that's nothing to worry about is foolish.
Summary of Federal Individual Income Tax Data, 2008
(Updated October 2010)
Number of Returns with Positive AGI
AGI
($ millions)
Income Taxes Paid
($ millions)
Group's Share of Total AGI
Group's Share of Income Taxes
Income Split Point
Average Tax Rate
All Taxpayers
139,960,580 8,426,625 1,031,512 100% 100% - 12.24%
Top 1% 1,399,606 1,685,472 392,149 20.00% 38.02% $380,354 23.27%
1-5%
5,598,423 1,241,229 213,569 14.73% 20.70% 17.21%
Top 5% 6,998,029 2,926,701 605,718 34.73% 58.72% $159,619 20.70%
5-10%
6,998,029 929,761 115,703 11.03% 11.22% 12.44%
Top 10% 13,996,058 3,856,462 721,421 45.77% 69.94% $113,799 18.71%
10-25%
20,994,087 1,821,717 169,193 21.62% 16.40%
9.29%
Top 25% 34,990,145 5,678,179 890,614 67.38% 86.34% $67,280 15.68%
25-50%
34,990,145 1,673,932 113,025 19.86% 10.96%
6.75%
Top 50%
69,980,290 7,352,111 1,003,639 87.25% 97.30% >$33,048 13.65%
Bottom 50% 69,980,290 1,074,514 27,873 12.75% 2.70% <$33,048 2.59%
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The Tax Foundation - Summary of Latest Federal Individual Income Tax Data
Seems the rich pay the lions share to me. Sounds more like the liberals just can't get enough revenue so they can spend more....go figure.