The Tax "Debate"

From Capitol Report New Mexico - There’s been plenty of screaming, wailing and gnashing of teeth regarding the debate (and I use the word “debate” advisedly) about extending the Bush tax cuts to households earning $250,000 a year or more. Liberals are on the warpath, saying it’s not just wrong but “borders on moral recklessness” in the words of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) and point to a Congressional Budget Office report that estimates extending the Bush tax cuts would lead to greater debt in the long run.

Conservatives say that the $250,000 figure often includes small business owners who create jobs and that raising taxes on anybody in the midst of a deep recession is counterproductive. And they look at the same CBO study that says that keeping the tax cuts can help the economy right away. Admist all the hollering, I came across this very interesting chart put out by the Tax Foundation and reproduced by Nick Gillespie of Reason.com. It’s a breakdown of the percentage of income tax paid by each economic group from 2000-2008: See table and rest of column here:

The Tax "Debate"