For the wealthy, times are good

New data released by the IRS reveals that, over a period of 12 years, tax rates for the richest 400 Americans were effectively cut in half. In 1995, the richest 400 Americans paid, on average, 29.93% of their income in federal taxes. In 2007, the last year for which the IRS has released data, the richest 400 Americans paid just 16.63%. In 1995, just 12 of the 400 richest Americans paid an effective tax rat of between zero and 15%. By 2007, that number skyrocketed to over 150. The massive reduction is due to both Bush-era tax reductions for the wealthy and the aggressive exploitation of tax dodges and shelters.

Keep this in mind as we watch the debt talks spiral down the drain. The White House has been proposing up to about $4 trillion in cuts, but want to see increased revenues be part of the deal. For Eric Cantor and other House Republicans, though, that's a showstopper.

Taxes for the richest Americans have been cut nearly in half over the last decade, but we're talking about defaulting on the national debt rather than raise them back up again by even one penny. No adjusting depreciation schedules for their corporate jets; no crazy raising-of-taxrates up to what they were during the Clinton years. All of that's off the table. Instead, Cantor and the others insist that the entire deficit burden be shouldered by cutting the social safety net for seniors and the poor. And this is while corporate profits and the incomes of the wealthy have skyrocketed.

It's an offensive position. Let's make that clear—it's not just ridiculous, or irresponsible, or unrealistic, but patently offensive. When you cut taxes for the wealthy in half, and threaten to shut down the government and/or default on the national debt rather than raise them back up again by one penny, that's class warfare.

