[rextorres]

Speaking back to the article in question: if Bush really had wanted to help the workers of America he would have focused on the payroll tax and not on (I know this is a tired argument) the top 1%.

Geo I won't accuse of slander but what I meant is what I said (although a little tongue in cheek). Bush's FOCUS on the tax cut was for the 1% they got the largest amount of tax cut in terms of $ and % so arguably that was who the tax cut was focused on - sure the rest of us got some crumbs BUT IMO the FOCUS of his tax should have been on something else - and in this particular instance I proposed that it should have been relieving the working poor of the payroll tax burden.

I know it's hard to accept and for conservatives it's a convenient thing to forget so that they can claim that 50% pay 96% of the income tax, but the payroll tax, business tax, excise tax and income tax is put into one big pot as revenue and spent as the govt sees fit.

When you factor the payroll taxes and excise taxes into the revenue equation then *presto* all of a sudden the bottom 42% (not most but close to most) provide as much revenue as the top 1% but - here's the catch - they earn a lot less.

[ September 18, 2003, 05:33: Message edited by: rextorres ]