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The Bush
Tax Cut
Lie
When talking about the lies of GWBush, it is impossible to say "this is the most egregious of his lies." The fact is, GWBush lies so often and so deeply that each lie simply adds to the others. Still, it is GWBush's lies about the effect of his tax cuts that looms as the biggest of his lies because:
- This lie masks his true intent to shift the burden of taxes from the wealthy to the working class.
- This lie masks his true intent to destroy all progressive legislation enacted in this country since the great depression.
- This lie is the foundation of most of his other lies.
Summary. GWBush tells us time and again that his tax cuts will provide most relief to those at the bottom of the income scale. This is a lie, totally and completely. In fact, the greatest tax relief provided by GWBush and his tax cuts goes to the wealthiest Americans.
Bush's Lie
BUSH: "Let me finish please. But by far the vast majority of my tax cuts go to the bottom end of the spectrum. And this language about Governor Bush only has tax cuts for the rich, sounds exactly like Al Gore." Bush made this statement time and again -- this quote is from the Tuesday, February 15, 2000, South Carolina presidential debate.
The Facts
The tax cut plan enacted May 22, 2003 offers the wealthiest one percent of Americans an average of almost $100,000 in tax reductions each over the next four years. At the same time, the final bill sharply scales back the already modest middle income tax cuts included in earlier bills, by phasing out those provisions after two years.An analysis of the Republican tax plan by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds that over the next four years:
- Almost two-thirds of the bill’s tax cuts will go to the best-off 10 percent of all taxpayers, and well over half will go to the top five percent.
- In contrast, the bottom 60 percent of taxpayers will get only 7.8 percent of the tax cuts, averaging less than $100 a year over the next four years.
- The average tax reduction for the richest one percent over the next four years will total $96,634. Over that period, this tiny but wealthy group will enjoy 36 percent of the tax cuts. Starting in 2006, when only the reduction in taxes on capital gains and dividends would be in effect, the best-off one percent will get 53 percent of the bill’s ongoing tax benefits.
| Average Tax Cuts | Shares of Tax Cuts | |||||||||
| Income group | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 4-year total | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | All four years |
| Lowest 20% | $ -12 | $ -20 | $ -3 | $ -1 | $ -36 | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Second 20% | -109 | -139 | -13 | -10 | -271 | 2.3% | 2.6% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 2.0% |
| Middle 20% | -298 | -366 | -47 | -32 | -743 | 6.4% | 6.9% | 2.0% | 2.8% | 5.6% |
| Fourth 20% | -667 | -757 | -168 | -84 | -1,676 | 14.4% | 14.3% | 7.3% | 7.5% | 12.5% |
| Next 15% | -1,819 | -1,954 | -678 | -247 | -4,699 | 29.5% | 27.7% | 22.1% | 16.4% | 26.4% |
| Next 4% | -3,799 | -4,321 | -2,111 | -1,100 | -11,331 | 16.4% | 16.3% | 18.4% | 19.5% | 17.0% |
| Top 1% | -28,414 | -33,516 | -22,769 | -11,395 | -96,634 | 30.7% | 31.7% | 49.5% | 52.8% | 36.3% |
Source: Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Tax Model, May 22, 2003 (revised 6/5/03).
In fact, the vast bulk of the Bush tax cuts will go to the wealthiest Americans while the majority of Americans will see almost no reduction in their tax burden. Note from the chart above:
The wealthiest 1 percent of Americans will receive over 1/3 of the Bush tax cuts.
The top 20 percent of Americans by income will receive 79.7 percent of the tax cuts.
The bottom 80 percent of Americans will receive 20.3 percent of the tax cuts.
The people who make up the bottom 40 percent of Americans will receive 2.3 percent of the tax cuts.
Those at the bottom will receive essentially no tax cut.
Conclusion
George W. Bush lied about his tax cuts and continues to lie about his tax cuts.