Source: U.S. Today For those who still have an income, one upshot of the economic downturn is that the amount of taxes Americans pay relative to income is at its lowest level in sixty years.

USA Today:

Federal, state and local taxes — including income, property, sales and other taxes — consumed 9.2% of all personal income in 2009, the lowest rate since 1950, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports. That rate is far below the historic average of 12% for the last half-century. The overall tax burden hit bottom in December at 8.8.% of income before rising slightly in the first three months of 2010.

Why taxes are so low right now.

Three big reasons: The stimulus was in fact a major tax cutter, and increasingly progressive tax rates means that as we've fallen in income, we've fallen into lower tax rates. What's more, we're consuming less, so spending less on taxes.

People outraged by the current U.S. budget deficit can at least console themselves in knowing that the lower tax rates they're currently enjoying have much do to with it.