Recommended: The Bush Tax Cuts Were (Very Mildly) Progressive

Forbes has an interesting article entitled The Bush Tax Cuts Were (Very Mildly) Progressive. The author, Clifford Asness, says at the start

There is a perception that the Bush income tax cuts were a massive gift to the wealthy. Well, that's kind of true. But along with that perception seems to come the notion that they were massively regressive, benefiting the wealthy at the expense of the middle-class and poor. That's just not true.

Jingoism unsupported by facts seems to be the currency of politics, I guess because most people are easily seduced by simple ideas, especially if they fit their preconceived beliefs or political philosophy. This is certainly evident in the current tax debate, which seems to be almost completely fact-free. Asness does the math in this article (which will lose the 90% of the population that are math-illiterate) to prove his point.

In fact, taxes have to increase (and government spending has to be reduced) if we are to avoid a catastrophic failure of our national finances.  There is a valid argument against raising the taxes in the middle of an economic recession, but that excuse only lasts for the next year or two.  Where is the plan to raise taxes and cut spending after that?