Information on your income group is listed below in Row 1.  Information on two other groups is also listed for comparison.  Row 2 has the stats on the 240 thousand people who have incomes of $1,000,000 or more.  Row 3 has the data on the 129 million with incomes between $0 and $1,000,000.

1

All

100.00%

$49,202

-14.4%

$41,622

$32,639

$8,983

28%

2

$1,000,000 or more

0.19%

$3,410,368

31.1%

$2,466,127

$356,856

$2,109,271

591%

3

No AGI to $1,000,000

99.81%

$42,963

-7.4%

$37,121

$32,038

$5,083

16%

Row 1 is the report card for all 129 million-plus filers.  After two decades of tax reform, taxes have risen overall by 12.6% (between 1976 and 2000),  Despite the increase in taxes, after-tax income increased by $8,983.  This average is deceptive.  The after-tax income gain (shown in Row 1) drops by nearly $4,000 (shown in Row 3) once the gains of the top 0.19% ( Row 2) are factored out.

The productivity gains of the nation, as a whole, have led to an average increase in after-tax income of 28%.  When we remove those with million-dollar-plus paychecks, the after-tax income gain for everyone else (Row 3) drops to 16%.  How did nearly half of the growth of the economy end up in the hands of the top 1/5 of 1%?  Row 2 shows that the richest few saw their taxes drop by over 31%.  The various tax breaks have allowed these 240 thousand people to SAVE $102 billion in taxes in 1 year, while many Americans paid more than they had under the 1976 rates.

In 1976, the richest few controlled 3% of the total income.  After 20 years of sweetheart tax breaks, the share of the national income for the Superrich has increased to 13%.  That amounts to $817 billion of the $6,365 billion year 2000 national paycheck.

Last year's tax cut and the current proposed legislation will give the Superrich an even greater advantage.  Isn't it time to demand Congress stop these giant gifts and treat the rest of us fairly?

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