"Taxing the rich?" Bush said during a recent White House forum where his guests included the owners of a hair salon, a convenience store franchise and an office supply dealer.That Reuters felt compelled to call the Economic Policy Institute "left-leaning" just goes to show you that the so-called liberal media is a myth, albeit a persistent one.
The only problem is that most companies in the small-business world are so-called Main Street businesses with 10 or fewer employees, including restaurants, small retailers and small manufacturers, Census and IRS data show.
Their profits fall into a median range of $40,000 and $60,000, according to the National Federation of Independent Business, a leading advocate of the small-business community. That puts them just above U.S. median household income of $42,409.
"These are not rich people," said NFIB researcher Bruce Phillips. "Changing the tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, for the most part, doesn't apply to our membership."
"The president's tax cuts favor the wealthy, and I guess it's in his interest to try to convince lots of people that they are the wealthy," said Jared Bernstein, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
The NFIB estimates there are 13 million small-business people who are either self-employed or who employ at least one other person. Add in people who supplement their paycheck with a business venture and the number jumps to over 25 million.
You mean President Bush isn't being straight with us about taxes!? What do you expect from a borrow-and-spend freemarket nut who believes in tax cuts for the rich whether the budget is running surpluses or deficits, whether we're at war or peace?