Bush Defends Tax Cut Proposal (washingtonpost.com)

A calculation done by the liberal group Citizens for Tax Justice produced similar results, finding that the top 10 percent of earners, those above $104,000 in income, would get an average tax cut of $5,578, or 60 percent of the total benefit, while the bottom 60 percent, those earning less than $46,000, would receive an average cut of $131, or 8.5 percent of the total benefit.

The Bush Treasury Department, using a broader definition of income, found similar results. It calculated that those earning more than $100,000 would get 66 percent of the benefit of the Bush tax cut, while those earning $50,000 or less would get 10.5 percent.

Bush: "Let me just give you the facts that, under this plan, a family of four with an income of $40,000 will receive a 96 percent reduction in federal income taxes."

There has been no explanation of how this figure was derived and many experts are expressing disbelief. There is an increased child credit and an adjustment for married two income families. Instead of a child credit an increase in the standard exemption would be simpler but this gives political credit with family religious institutions.