But because you get no benefit from tax relief once your income tax bill gets down to zero, really poor people would get little or nothing. Democrats will probably make their cuts refundable, so the poor would get a check from the government if their tax liability were zero. Depending on what the Democrats propose, perhaps 10 million to 20 million families would get a better deal under their plan than under Bush's. That's a lot of folks, but 90 million other families won't be affected at all either way. You can bet the house that they'll do just about as well under the Democrats' plan.
Polls show that the public is still pretty indifferent to a big tax cut.
But for most of us, the winner of Survivor 2 will matter more than who comes out ahead in the Great Tax Debate of 2001. Gleckman is a a senior correspondent in Business Week's Washington bureau. Bid on or offer business services Web design, logo design, computer consulting, and more. Business Week Online may receive a share of any fees you pay for services. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.