How Much Have Bush’s Tax Cuts Cost YOU?

by Tula Connell, Oct 11, 2006

We know Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy are bad—a $70 billion tax cut for the rich this year alone.

Now, Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) has released a state-by-state breakdown that shows the combination of special tax breaks for capital gains and dividends, reductions in personal income tax rates, estate tax cuts and an array of corporate tax loopholes and summarizes their effects on state residents at different income levels.

CTJ notes two key findings:

First, the tax breaks enacted since 2001 are heavily skewed toward the very wealthiest few. Second, because the tax cuts are being paid for with borrowed money, the cost of paying the added national debt more than wipes out any benefits from the tax cuts for 99 percent of residents in each state. Only the best-off one percent are net winners from the President’s fiscal policies.

In Ohio, for instance, between 2001 and 2010, the wealthiest Ohioans will receive 26.7
percent of the Bush tax cuts in the state. The total 10-year average tax cut for this wealthiest group is $297,278, an average of $29,728 per year.

And for Ohio working families?

…the poorest 60 percent will get only 21.6 percent of the tax cuts, with an average annual tax cut over the 10 years of only $403.

For the 99 percent of Ohio residents who aren’t in the wealthiest top tier, their share of the added debt accumulated from 2001 through 2006 outweighs their tax cuts by an average of $7,163 per person. They have received an average tax break of $2,585 per person over the six-year period, but their added debt burden averages $9,748 per person.

As Bondad notes on Daily Kos, the nation’s actual revenue after Bush’s tax cuts has decreased a tad more than 20 percent, after adjusting for the gross domestic product price deflator.

And despite claims to the contrary, the deficit is nowhere near under control. According to the Bureau of Public Debt, the Bush administration has increased total outstanding federal debt by over 550 billion per year for the last 4 years.

When working families don’t pay their bills, we get relentless calls from debt collectors.

Anyone know the White House number?

Better yet, share CTJ’s state reports with as many voters as you can reach. 

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