From: harelb@math.cornell.edu (misc.activism.progressive co-moderator)
Subject: The Decline of America: "Strong Family Values"
Organization: misc.activism.progressive on UseNet ; ACTIV-L@UMCVMB
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 04:00:13 GMT

The Decline of America: "Strong Family Values"


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CARTOON CAPTION: "by the way, Neil, just what ARE we valued at these
days?"  holding Silverado, Oil Deals, etc briefs in his hands...
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                C a p i t a l   G a i n s   T a x e s 
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(III) Who Benefits? Addendum: Class-Conflict of Interest 

"Under Bush's proposed capital-gains tax, *66%* of the benefits would 
flow to the top *1%* of all taxpayers (including himself); 

"Bush personally saved $303,516 in federal income taxes between 1980 
and 1986 by using the old capital gains tax break." 

[Source: Citizens for Tax Justice] 

[From: The Nation, week of April 2, 1990; "Passing On 
the Legacy of Shame," By Mark Green and Ralph Nader] 

[Send 1-line emacs GET ECONOMIC STATS ACTIV-L to
LISTSERV@UMCVMB.BITNET for more information and stats]

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                C a p i t a l   G a i n s   T a x e s 
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Who Benefits? Part (IV) 

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The Bushes' Creditable Tax Strategy 
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George and Barbara Bush deserve credit. They have run their household 
economy in a way that helps reduce federal budget deficits while they 
enjoy higher net incomes than might otherwise be the case. 

Never mind that their achievement was made easier by being able to 
pick and choose the state in which to be legally resident. Never mind 
that they chose a state, Texas, that has no personal income taxes or 
capital gains taxes. Never mind that they own no property in Texas but 
do have a handsome place in Maine, where they spend a lot more time. 

Also, never mind that many state governments around the country are 
suffering from acute financial problems and that some of them, 
including Connecticut, where Bush grew up and went to college, are 
swinging toward the income tax as a fair and even-handed way of 
raising revenue. 

The Bushes have, by being legal residents of Texas, escapes paying 
about $29,000 [in] taxes in Maine for 1990, according to a report 
assembled by Money magazine. And a federal law allows them, as legal 
residents elsewhere, an exemption from District of Columbia income tax 
that would, Money estimates, have cost them $30,000. 

Slashing one's exposure to state taxes does have a down side, and that 
is how the Bushes help to lower the federal deficit. Taxpayers who 
itemize are able to deduct from federally taxable income any taxes 
they have paid to state or local governments. since the Bushes have 
apparently escaped about $30,000 in state and local levies, their 
adjusted gross income is higher by that amount, which is presumably 
taxable at the 1990 marginal rate of 28 percent, or more than $8,000. 

When it comes to federal deficits, every little bit counts, especially 
when one is presiding over annual deficit that run to the order of $300 
billion. 

And those states without income taxes? Nice places, if you don't have 
to spend too much time in them. 

[Editorial, _Boston Globe_,  Saturday, December 28, 1991, page 26.] 


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