Rich get Richer
The first data to document the effect of President Bush's tax cuts for investment income show that they have significantly lowered the tax burden on the richest Americans, reducing taxes on incomes of more than $10 million by an average of about $500,000.
We now officially have a regressive tax structure, even on the income tax. The interesting thing is that it's the runaway ultra-wealthy (earners of $10M or more) who screw the sorta-wealthy (earners of between $200k and $10M) who are actually paying a higher rate than the uber-right. People in the middle class on on the bottom also get fucked becase social services are deteriorating -- causing myriad other costs to emerge -- and their share of the tax burdin, while still less than those above them, is on the rise.
This also doesn't take into account the effects of sales taxes and property tax, which proportionally fall more heavily upon working and middle class folks.
With this, and the end to inheritance taxes, it looks like we're on our way towards that post-capitalist crony kleptocracy we've always wanted. Huzzah!