Friday, October 08, 2004
Krugman wrote the following in his latest column:
For a little background on what he is referring to in the above, here's a relevant press release from moveon.org:
... the Bush administration has managed to convince many people that its tax cuts, which go primarily to the wealthiest few percent of the population, are populist measures benefiting middle-class families and small businesses. (Under the administration's definition, anyone with "business income" - a group that includes Dick Cheney and George Bush - is a struggling small-business owner.)
For a little background on what he is referring to in the above, here's a relevant press release from moveon.org:
Cheney said "about 900,000 small businesses will be hit if you do, in fact, do what they want to do with the top bracket."
The figure Cheney cited is highly disingenuous and Cheneys logic highly convoluted. Under Cheney's definition a small business is any taxpayer who reports some income -- even just $1 -- from a small business investment or partnership.
By this logic "every partner at a huge accounting firm or at the largest law firm would represent small businesses."
Also, by Cheney's definition, President Bush would have counted as a small business in 2001 because that year "he reported $84 of business income from his part ownership of a timber-growing enterprise." The overwhelming majority of actual small businesses are in the lower tax brackets and would be unaffected by the Kerry proposal.
Labels: Cheney, Krugman, Tax cuts
