Analysis Looks at Effect of Letting Tax Cuts Lapse for Rich - NYTimes.com

Three key points from this article in today's New York Times:

1. "Given the progressive nature of the federal income tax system, in which tax rates increase with income, even the richest households would continue to pay the four lower rates on up to the first $250,000 of their income, under the approach being pushed by Mr. Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress."
2. "Filers with taxable income of $500,000 to $1 million would still get on average a tax cut of $6,700 compared with pre-2001 rates, according to the data from the tax analysts. But that compares with roughly $17,500 if the top Bush tax rates were maintained."
3. "Extending them for the next 10 years would add about $3.8 trillion to a growing national debt that is already the largest since World War II. About $700 billion of that reflects the projected costs of tax cuts for those in the top 2 percent of income-earners."

So just to recap, giving a tax cut of $17,500 instead of a paltry $6,700 to filers with taxable incomes of $500,000 to $1,000,000 would add $3.8 trillion to the national debt. Again, $3.8 trillion so people earning over a half million dollars can get an extra $10,800 in their pockets.