Congress intentionally increased the deficit in December 2010 by extending Bush-era tax cuts for families making more than $250,000 and passing an estate tax cut that benefits only the top quarter of one percent of earners.
This chart compares the amount of money that would be saved by the proposed budget cuts with the one-year cost of the tax cuts for the wealthy that were approved late last year. As shown, tax cuts for the wealthy have added more to the deficit than would be shaved from the deficit by the proposed spending cuts to important social programs.
Created by Member Economist Emily Kawano
October 2011
Source: Economic Policy Institute. Analysis of data from the Congressional Budget Office, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
