From NEWSMAX:
The 400 highest-earning U.S. households reported a total of $108.2 billion in income for 2008, a 21.5 percent decline from a year earlier and the first drop since 2002, according to Internal Revenue Service data.
The figure reflects the effect of the recession on the wealthiest U.S. taxpayers, who earned an average of $270.5 million in 2008, the most recent figures available. President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress have proposed increasing taxes on top earners to reduce the U.S. budget deficit. Republicans in Congress resist such plans.
The drop in income will do little to blunt those efforts. Average income reported by the 400 highest-earning taxpayers was more than five times higher in 2008 than it was in 1992, according to the data. Even when held constant for inflation, the income of those taxpayers rose almost four times during the same period…
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