TO THE EDITOR:
Ms. Gurvich's latest column "Bush's Stimulus Plan Benefits Rich to Detriment of Others" labels the Bush stimulus package as a "monstrosity" and characterizes the tax cut within it as another "handout to the rich."
To support this contention, there is a claim of "absurdity" in the numbers associated with this plan. Here are the numbers from the column: The "wealthiest" 1 percent of Americans will get 28 percent of the benefits. The top 10 percent of earners will receive 59 percent of the tax breaks. The bottom 60 percent of earners would receive only 8 percent of the total.
Here are some numbers from a "nonpartisan, nonprofit" entity not quoted in the column: the Tax Foundation (http://www.
taxfoundation.org/prtopincometable.html, for the year 2000, using IRS data): The top 1 percent of income receivers in the United States pays 37.4 percent of total income taxes. The top 10 percent of income receivers pays 67.3 percent of total income taxes. The lower 50 percent of income receivers pays 3.9 percent of total income taxes.
Let's see. If these numbers are right, the effects are: Pay 37.4 percent of the taxes, get 28 percent of tax cut benefits. Pay 67.3 percent of the taxes, get 59 percent of the benefits. I'm guessing the figures for the bottom 60 percent of earners will reflect some excess of benefit over contribution.
Those sound like somewhat out-of-sync numbers to me, but not in the direction implied by this column, and far from "absurd." Wouldn't one expect those who pay the most taxes to get the most benefit from any equitable tax cut?
Yes, the top 1 percent of income receivers makes 21 percent of the nation's adjusted gross income, and the top 10 percent of income receivers makes 46 percent of the national AGI, but that is not an issue of empirical equity in taxation. The philosophical, social and political motivations of progressive taxation and income redistribution are arguable points by reasonable people in a free society, but getting some relevant data out there would seem a good first step in the conversation if we're going to define what's fair by talking about percentages.
