[Dick Cheney] broke a 50-50 impasse late Thursday night, approving a Senate bill to eliminate the tax on dividend income. With a $1.16 million income last year, Cheney paid $341,114 in federal taxes, almost half of it a tax on his dividend income. The Senate was considering a bill that would have cut Cheney's taxes by $17,482, but he cast the tie-breaking vote on an amendment that would cut his tax bill $85,924 this year and $171,850 next year.

The impact on [George W. Bush]'s tax bill is much less than Cheney's. With $856,058 income last year, Bush and his wife paid taxes of $268,728. The majority of their income was $436,028 in interest, which does not benefit from the tax bill. Their dividend income was $23,947, which would mean a $8,381 tax cut if all dividend income is eventually excluded. Reducing the marginal tax rate from 38.6 percent to 35 percent would trim another $25,000 from the tax bill, reducing their overall bill by 12 percent, about $33,000.