| Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously defined taxes as "what we pay for civilized society." Those who care about human needs know that adequate federal revenues are essential to our shared well-being and progress. They know too that those revenues must be collected fairly, according to our ability to pay. The federal tax cuts enacted starting in 2001 have failed both to preserve an adequate amount of revenue and to collect it fairly. The deficit for FY 2004 is estimated at $422 billion. The tax cuts have added more to the deficit than all other new federal legislation combined since 2001. If made permanent, they will cost more than $1.6 trillion over 10 years. Such massive reductions in revenue strangle the government's capacity to meet the nation's needs. Further, the tax cuts worsen the gap between the rich and everyone else. In 2004, half of the combined value of all the tax cuts passed since 2001 will go to the richest one percent. The bottom 20 percent will receive only 1.3 percent. TPC: Income Tax Brackets 1985 - 2003 Americans for a Fair Estate Tax
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Citizens for Tax Justice
Economic Policy Institute
Fair Taxes For All
National Priorities Project
OMB Watch
Tax Policy Center
United for a Fair Economy
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