corrente

Tying in conveniently with both the Krugman column (below) and very possibly the black cat/Friday the 13th item below that comes yet another long overdue "D'UH!" moment of economic analysis

(via the suddenly surprisingly relevant NYT)

Fully one-third of President Bush's tax cuts in the last three years have gone to people with the top 1 percent of income, who have earned an average of $1.2 million annually, according to a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to be published Friday.

The new estimates confirm what independent tax analysts have long said: that Mr. Bush's tax cuts have been heavily skewed to the very wealthiest taxpayers.

According to the new report from the Congressional Budget Office, about two-thirds of the benefits from the tax cuts, enacted in 2001 and 2003, went to households in the top fifth of earnings, with an average income of $203,740.

"It doesn't matter who you are, the report shows that you are better off now than you were before the tax cuts,'' said a House Republican aide. "It's showing that everybody's tax burden has gone down as a result of the tax cuts.''

Of course the Republican response/mantra is complete hogwash. A miniscule reduction in Federal taxes on the poor does not begin to make up for the concurrent increases in state taxes, local taxes, gas taxes, car taxes, fees on things which were formerly free, deterioration in services in everything from prisons to parks to libraries.