OK, tell me again why you think Bush supports the middle class. Go ahead. I dare you.

Read it and weep.

Since 2001, President Bush's tax cuts have SHIFTED federal tax payments FROM the richest Americans TO a wide swath of MIDDLE-class families, the Congressional Budget Office has found, a conclusion likely to roil the presidential election campaign.



The CBO study, due to be released today, found that the WEALTHIEST 20 percent, whose incomes averaged $182,700 in 2001, saw their share of federal taxes DROP from 64.4 percent of total tax payments in 2001 to 63.5 percent this year. The TOP 1 percent, earning $1.1 million, saw their share FALL to 20.1 percent of the total, from 22.2 percent.



Over that same period, taxpayers with incomes from around $51,500 to around $75,600 saw their share of federal tax payments INCREASE. Households earning around $75,600 saw their tax burden JUMP THE MOST from 18.7 percent of all taxes to 19.5 percent.



[snip]



The conclusions are stark. The effective federal tax rate of the top 1 percent of taxpayers has fallen from 33.4 percent to 26.7 percent, a 20 percent drop. In contrast, the middle 20 percent of taxpayers -- whose incomes averaged $51,500 in 2001 -- saw their tax rates drop 9.3 percent. The poorest taxpayers saw their taxes fall 16 percent.



Republican aides on Capitol Hill, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the tax cuts actually made federal income taxes -- as opposed to total taxes -- more equitable.

And I am Marie of Rumania.



I just got my property tax bill. My property taxes are going up $500 this year. How about yours?