The working poor do not pay Federal income taxes. See: Earned Income Tax Credit. I knew a guy who had about $2,500/yr in Federal income taxes withheld from his biweekly paychecks. At the end of the year, he would get a "tax refund" of over $10,000. That is the EITC, and this guy was not working poor. More like lower-middle class.
BTW, he felt guilty about this EITC, but cashed the checks anyway because he needed them, looking forward to the day when his income was high enough to no longer qualify. I don't know, but I would assume he's probably in minority (he had conservative ethics).
I'm now of the opinion that everyone -- even the poor -- should pay some income taxes. Even if it is only a nominal amount. But it should be a large enough percentage of the person's income to give him pause whenever a politician promises another wonder government program. Things would be a lot different in this country if *every* worker in America needed to ask himself, But will this wonderful new program cause my taxes to increase?
What is going to be funny is when these large corporations stop supporting ABC, NBC, CBS CNN because they are not making money and then watch these left wing reporters go nuts because they are being laid off due to lack of selling ad space.