Sneak Moves to Flat Tax Hurt the Middle Class

News and Opinion for Democrats Against Bush -- Part II

Sneak Moves to Flat Tax Hurt the Middle Class

' "At the rate we are going, in which more and more investment income is simply untaxed, we will end up with a federal income tax that is not only regressive at the top, but regressive overall," warns Richard Kogan, an economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington. "The middle class will be the tax-bearing class." '

Christian Science Monitor - from the December 01, 2003 edition

US moves - quietly - toward a flat tax

By David R. Francis | Columnist

The complete article (including a chart by Brian Roach) is currently (3/27/04) available on the Christian Science Monitor website. Click on-- http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1201/p13s01-wmgn.html

Quotes--

Without much public debate or even awareness, the United States is heading toward an almost flat tax.

That means the middle class will pour nearly as large a share of its income into tax coffers as millionaires and billionaires do. Throw in another tax cut along the lines of the two successfully supported by President Bush, and the middle class could actually pay a little more.

That change would reverse decades of US policy and constitute a major victory for some conservatives who have long advocated a flat tax. ...

On the other side, some Democratic presidential candidates are pushing to restore the progressivity of the system. They advocate eliminating the Bush tax cuts for the rich to free up federal revenues for additional public services, such as more comprehensive healthcare. Or the extra revenue could lower taxes for those with lower incomes. ...

www.csmonitor.com | Copyright © 2003

For more information see these websites--

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities-- http://www.cbpp.org/pubs/fedtax.htm

Citizens for Tax Justice-- http://www.ctj.org/html/publist.htm#flattax

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