Upside Down: Who the Government Really Gives To

Here's a nice little paper that ties in with my recent post "Our
Government is Captive of the Wealthy"

http://cfed.org/assets/pdfs/UpsideDown_final.pdf

Here's the little blurb on the CFED site pointing to the paper:

"Among the most compelling findings included in the report is that of the nearly $400 billion spend by the federal government in 2009, most funds went toward tax breaks. However, more than half of these breaks went to the wealthiest five percent of taxpayers, who averaged a net benefit of $95,000 each. On the other hand, less than 5% of the federal expenditures benefitted the Americans earning the least. The bottom 60% of taxpayers averaged just $5 each.

This finding and a series of others likely evoke immediate frustration, pointing to yet another barrier keeping low- and moderate-income Americans from getting ahead and achieving the American dream. Yet, with this information comes unprecedented opportunity. As CFED Founder and Board Chair Robert Friedman elucidates, “Taken together, this suggests we have a monumental opportunity not only to save by curbing existing ineffective tax incentives, but to increase net savings significantly by extending effective incentives to the asset-poor majority.”"

The government taketh away. The government giveth.