fiscal cliff deal gives $1.3 trillion in tax cuts to richest 5%

tell me again how Republicans lost?

First of all, don't shoot the messenger.

I am just relaying the results of two reports from Citizens For Tax Justice

The first one shows that the betrayal (err, the "deal&quot was NOT a tax increase, it was a tax CUT

http://ctj.org/pdf/fiscalcliffdealrevenueimpacts.pdf

If all of the Bush tax cuts got extended that would have been a tax cut of $3.9 trillion.

Since only 85% of the Bush tax cuts were extended it means a tax cut of $3.3 trillion. Add to that the $369 billion in estate tax cuts which the White House is calling an increase in the estate tax. The total is $3.7 trillion in tax cuts.

We are supposed to cheer because the top 1% is gonna pay another $600 billion in taxes.

Okay, fine, but how is the $3.7 trillion in tax CUTS divided up.

That is in the next report http://ctj.org/pdf/bidenmcconnelldistribution.pdf Read it and weep.

The bottom 60% gets just 19% of the tax cut.
The same amount as the richest 1% gets.
The top 20% gets 65% of the tax cut - $2.4 trillion over ten years.

Say hello to more income inequality. $2.4 trillion in tax cuts for the top 20%. $700 billion in tax cuts for the bottom 60%. Plus $124 billion in recovery act credit provisions. Is still only $800 billion for the bottom 60%

Oh well, maybe those tax cuts to the top 20% will trickle down to the rest of us.

And we in the bottom 60% are supposed to believe that Obama is on OUR side? That the Democratic Party is on OUR side?

They will claim to be, but $2.4 trillion vesus $800 billion shows that claim is a lie.

Was it the best they could do? They did not even OFFER anything better to the American people. Our false choice was - keep 78% of the Bush tax cuts or keep 100% of them. No elected offical - not Tammy Baldwin, not Elizabeth Warren, not Dennis Kucinich, not Alan Grayson, not Sherrod Brown, not Sheldon Whitehouse, not Bernie Sanders, not Al Franken. None of them ever used their position to demand - let's keep ZERO percent of them and aim tax cuts at the bottom 60%.

All of those supposed progressives are apparently owned by the richest 20%.