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Now, why are we not surprised by this headline? If it isn't clear that the Bush administration hooked up their really rich friends over the past 6 years, this analysis just out should put a nail in that coffin:

The first data to document the effect of President Bush's tax cuts for investment income show that they have significantly lowered the tax burden on the richest Americans, reducing taxes on incomes of more than $10 million by an average of about $500,000.

More succinctly, when you read the tables accompanying this article, you'll see that after all the tax cuts over the past 6 years, those making over $10 million have an effective tax rate of 22%, which is the same as those making between $200,000 and $500,000.

Can you say, flat tax?

Now, the rich millionaires who receive the most benefits from Bush's tax cuts always try to spin them as, "well, by putting money in these folks hands, they go out and start businesses that hire more people, so these cuts really stimulate jobs growth." We know that this line of reasoning is a bunch of baloney, because we wrote about it back in July. In particular:

The basic hiring criterion, found in every introductory textbook (including those written by the president's own economic advisers), is straightforward: If the output of additional workers can be sold for at least enough to cover their salaries, they should be hired; otherwise not. If this criterion is met, hiring extra workers makes economic sense, no matter how poor a business owner might be. Conversely, if the criterion is not satisfied, hiring makes no economic sense, even for billionaire owners. The after-tax personal incomes of business owners are irrelevant for hiring decisions.

So, when you hear from the corporate media that tax cuts for the wealthy stimulate jobs growth, you know this argument is nothing more than a rationale for the rich to not pay their fair share into the public coffers.

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