The report includes new estimates of how the Bush tax cuts affect Illinoisans at different income levels between 2001 and 2006. But the report also shows that because every penny of the Bush administration's tax cuts has been paid for with borrowed money-which ultimately must be paid by taxpayers through tax hikes or spending cuts-the bottom line for middle-income Illinoisans is that a six-year cumulative tax cut averaging $2,100 per family member will be funded by borrowing that costs the same middle-income person $9,516.

In fact, when both the direct tax cuts and indirect debt hikes are accounted for side by side, only the wealthiest 1 percent of Illinoisans are left better off as a result of the Bush fiscal policies. For this lucky group, a total six-year tax cut averaging $107,574 per person outweighs a debt burden of $61,165.

The other 99 percent of Illinoisans receive a total six-year tax break averaging $2,820 per person but also face an added debt burden of $10,089.

"For the 99 percent of Illinoisans who lose under the President's policies, this means that every dollar we get in a tax cut, we are saddled with $3.58 dollars of new debt," said Chrissy Mancini of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. "This is combined with a regressive tax system in Illinois that already places the highest tax burden on low and middle income families."

"This report shows what most of us already knew: that there's no such thing as a free lunch. Low- and middle-income Illinoisans are paying for the huge tax cuts going to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans," said CTJ Director Robert S. McIntyre.

To view the full report online visit: www.ctj.org/debt.htm