Someone Actually Wrote This, Part 2

From today's Register:

The Bushes paid their share of taxes - and mine

President George W. Bush's tax cuts benefited the Bush and Cheney families, according to recent news stories ["Tax cuts benefit Bush, Cheney," Nation & World, April 14]. Wonderful. That's exactly what tax cuts are supposed to do: benefit taxpayers.

The adjusted income for my wife and me in 2002 was a grand total of $26,959. Total federal income tax withheld was $637. Yet, with tax cuts and child credits (we have four children) we received a tax refund of $2,963. That's a refund of 11 percent of our income. President Bush and his wife paid 28 percent of their income, so how did he benefit more than I?

The federal budget is equal to a tax of $8,000 on every man, woman and child in America ($2.4 trillion divided by 300 million people). My wife and I and our four dependent children's share of that budget would be $48,000. The president and his wife's share would be $16,000. But the Bush family is paying $227,490 in taxes, while I get a $2,963 refund. In all fairness, it should be noted that the president paid $211,490 more than his fair share. He's paying for 26 people who can't afford to pay $8,000. In fact, as I choose to look at it, he paid my taxes for me and gave me almost $3,000 cash to boot. Thank you, Mr. President.

[Name removed]

Yorba Linda

Note that the writer also earns about 10 percent of what the Bushes paid in taxes for the year. Ah, percentages - they make people stupid.