INSTITUTE INDEX: For the 1 percent, a fiscal gift from Congress
Amount by which the annual tax bill of the richest 1 percent of Americans would have increased under President Obama's original proposal to resolve the so-called "fiscal cliff" crisis and prevent automatic deficit-reducing spending cuts and tax hikes: nearly $10,000
Amount that the last-minute fiscal deal approved this week by Congress lowers the income-tax bill of the average 1 percent family: $17,840
Percentage increase in payroll taxes that every U.S. worker will have to pay as part of the deal, regardless of income level: 2
Extra amount that a worker earning $50,000 a year will pay as a result: $1,000
Under the president's proposal, income levels at which the Bush-era income tax cuts would have become permanent for married couples/singles: $250,000/$200,000
Under the deal approved by Congress, income levels at which those tax cuts became permanent for married couple/singles: $450,000/$400,000
Under Obama's proposal, limit on tax savings for each dollar of deductions, in cents: 28
Limit under the deal approved by Congress: 0
Rate of the estate tax on inheritances before the new fiscal deal: 55%
After the new fiscal deal: 40%
Amount to which the fiscal deal raised the estate tax exemption: $10 million
Given such a high exemption, percentage of the Americans who are wealthy enough to have to pay the estate tax: 0.3
Under the new health care tax on unearned income, percentage tax rate that would have had to be paid on dividends: 43
Percentage tax rate on dividends under the fiscal deal: 24
Number of corporate tax breaks included in the deal: 31
Approximate cost of those tax breaks: $77 billion
Amount of revenue that could have been raised over the next decade by trimming tax breaks for the big five oil companies alone: $24 billion
Number of big oil tax breaks eliminated by the fiscal deal: 0
Amount in revenue that President Obama's original proposal would have saved over a decade: $1.6 trillion
Amount saved in the deal approved by Congress: $640 billion
Number of Senators who opposed the deal: 8*
Number of Senators who opposed the deal because they felt it was bad for the middle class: 1**
* Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Thomas Carper (D-Del.), Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.)
** Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
(Click on figure to go to source.)
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Sue Sturgis
Sue is the former editorial director of Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies.