The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities catches the Treasury Department overselling the benefits of the 2001-2003 tax cuts (AKA "Bush tax cuts") for middle- and lower income families. Some readers may mistakenly conclude from the [Treasury Department] release that many of the tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 are contributing to the overall tax benefits the example families are receiving, when, in fact, few of the 2001 and 2003 tax-cut provisions touch low- and middle-income people. The Treasury release consequently is likely to do more to obscure than to illuminate the choices policymakers face regarding which provisions of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to extend and which to allow to expire as scheduled at the end of 2010. Sure: Lower-income Americans benefit from tax cuts aimed at middle- and lower-income families. No surprises there. And if the Bush Administration wants to celebrate that aspect of its 2001-2003 tax cuts, good for them. (The Administration could also tout their policies that guarantee the sun rises in the east.) But the crucial lie of omission here is that the majority of the 2001-2003 tax cuts aren't aimed at middle- and lower-income families. (click to enlarge) (click to enlarge) The cost of extending the portion of the Bush tax cuts that benefit middle- and lower-income families -- the 10% tax bracket, increased child tax credit, and reduction of the marriage penalty -- would be $678 billion. Conversely, the bits of the Bush tax cuts that benefit wealthier families -- reduction in the upper four marginal income tax rates, capital gains and dividend tax cuts, and the elimination of the estate tax -- would cost $1.7 trillion over the next 10 years.