The Bush tax cuts in one chart

By Ezra Klein

It's time, I think, to repost this chart showing how much taxpayers at different income levels would get from the Democratic plan, which was to simply extend the cuts for income under $250,000, and the Republican plan, which was to extend the cuts for everyone:

The term "tax cuts for the middle class," which Democrats like to use, has misled. As you can see from the left side of the chart, the "tax cuts for the middle class" also cut taxes on the rich. A family that makes $750,000 a year would pay lower taxes on the first $250,000 of their income. The question has never been whether only middle-class workers should get a tax cut. It's how much income the tax cut should cover.