I know that George Bush’s tax cuts were not just for the rich-I know this because my own tax bill has been lower as a result of the cuts. But, while many (rich and not rich) benefit from the cuts, they have not reduced the percentage of the burden borne by the wealthiest citizens.
As columnist Bruce Bartlett writes in a column that refutes the canard of those who want to tax us into socialism:
“By 1986, the top 1 percent’s share of all federal income taxes rose to 25.7 percent. That year, the top statutory tax rate was further cut to 28 percent — another huge-give-away, we were told. Yet the share of income taxes paid by the top 1 percent continued to rise. By 1992, it was up to 27.5 percent.
“Of course, it would be a mistake to conclude that tax increases will not raise the wealthy’s tax share or that tax rate cuts always will. Nevertheless, it is remarkable that the percentage of federal income taxes paid by the top 1 percent of taxpayers almost doubled during a time when the top income tax rate fell by half.
“A common liberal retort to these data is that they exclude payroll taxes, which are assumed to be largely paid by the poor. However, it turns out that when one includes payroll taxes in the calculations, it has far less impact on the distribution of the tax burden than most people would assume, because the wealthy also pay a lot of those taxes, too.”