[sarcasm]

A tax cut has nothing to do with wages earned. Federal taxes are also only one part of the picture - state and local tax increases have, in many cases, eaten up any savings. I certainly haven't seen any increase in after tax income since the Bush tax plan was enacted.

[Nick Danger]

I certainly haven't seen any increase in after tax income since the Bush tax plan was enacted.

Oh, come on. You used to be Mr. Data. Now you offer yourself up as a 'sample of one'? Is this Rhetoric Night, or are we gonna stick to facts here?

A tax cut has nothing to do with wages earned.

In that sense, neither does the CPI. If we're going to correct for inflation effects though, let's toss in the taxes as well, because they are not an insignificant part of how people spend their money... and they do not appear in the CPI. To someone looking at his paycheck, the fact that tax rates went down looks just like a raise.

Why bother with this anyway? The most you can win quibbling about this is a half of a percentage point... $130 a year to an average production worker. To Hell with it. Let's call it "flat" and be done.

[Southack]

"A tax cut has nothing to do with wages earned."

But a tax cut has a lot to do with "wealth accumulation."

If we are accumulating wealth, then we aren't growing more poor. If we aren't growing poorer, then Marx is wrong.