Why Children Are Left Behind

President Reagan used his speaking expertise to sell Supply-Side and Trickle-Down Economics plus his 1981 tax cuts and the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Presidents who followed Reagan followed his thinking on taxes to develop a Christmas tree full of prizes for special interests. In 2010, President George W. Bush continued the push for more tax cuts in the Reagan tradition. The extended debate leading up to congressional voting on the legislation was often rancorous. One memorable moment occurred when a legislative leader, on a national broadcast, gave us an under-estimated forewarning. He said a high end tax payer could use the tax benefit to purchase a Lexus; a low end tax payer could use the tax benefit to purchase a muffler. Backers of the Bush tax law argued that detractors were engaging in Class Warfare. The above circle graphs give us an easy means for evaluating the impact of income tax cuts. 1979: When the Bottom 80% of tax payers earned $1,000,000 the Top 1% earned $2,941,500. 2009: When the Bottom 80% of tax payers earned $1,000,000 the Top 1% earned $5,420,900. Write an analogy for the two circle graphs above.