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To: Steve Dietrich who wrote (42451)	3/28/2001 1:11:30 AM
From: Peter O'Brien	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 64865

Steve, regarding your capital gains assertion, I don't think the historical facts support that either... According to the CBO, capital gains tax receipts were 7% of individual income tax receipts in 1994 (before the bull market really took off). In 2000, capital gains tax receipts rose to 12% of individual income tax receipts. So, capital gains tax receipts have never been a real significant percentage of the total. I agree that capital gains tax receipts have increased, but the impact is so small that it doesn't change my earlier argument. In my earlier argument, I pointed out that individual income taxes are now at all-time high of 9.9% of GDP in 2000 compared to 9.4% in 1944 (at the height of WW2). Let's say that I concede that the bull market has inflated the 2000 number by 5% due to unusually high capital gains receipts (12% - 7% as described in the previous paragraph). Well, that would just reduce the 9.9% of GDP in 2000 to 9.4%, which is still the same as 1944. So, I simply don't buy your assertion that capital gains tax receipts are "in large part" (your words) responsible for the current all-time historical high level of federal taxation.