New "Middle-Class" Tax-Cut Bill Represents Cynical Policymaking


 

Publication Date: September 2004

Publisher: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Robert Greenstein

Research Area: Banking and finance

Keywords: Tax code; Economic projections; Income diversity; Economic inequality

Type: Other

Abstract:

The “middle-class” tax-cut legislation that the House and Senate approved last night reflects an exercise in cynicism unusual even for Washington, D.C.  Its “middle-class” label cloaks several significant deficiencies.  For example, the legislation benefits high-income households considerably more than the middle class, and even though the bill emerged out of dormant legislation designed to help low-income working families, the revised legislation treats these families unfavorably.