its really worse 47% of tax returns paid no income tax not 47% of the population the number that pays no taxes is even higher
Since the 47% of tax filers probably have larger families than the 53% of tax payers that is likely to be true.
Plus, there are substantial numbers of people who don’t even file.
In fact, delineating just who the 47% is might be useful.
There's nothing here worth worrying about ~ Mitt and others leaped to some false conclusions ~ and unnecessarily, and cruelly for some, confounded two totally different issues.
The first 47% deal was the number of people who filed federal income tax returns but did not pay any net federal personal income taxes.
It wasn't about 47% not paying taxes ~ only a fool who'd been living in a cave for the last 3 centuries could possibly think that ~ no one escapes the United States of America without paying taxes ~ either directly, or indirectly.
Let me repeat that ~ NO ONE gets away with not paying taxes!
Professional talk show hosts (e.g. Hannity was one) regularly confused this very narrow question, which is the culmination of a Ronald Reagan policy, and actually said "47% paid no taxes" ~ and said it like it was meaningful.
The other issue was Obama's regular level of support. Even though he's been below 50% ~ at roughly 47 % ~ for most of the last two years, his supporters ~ e.g. Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, that crowd, are hardly dependent class people. They are simply stupid. As is Obama. The man is stupid. 47% of the voters who've hung with him are stupid.
As soon as you mix the two groups in your mind ~ stupid people who vote for Obamugabe, and people who do not owe federal personal income tax, you make a whopper of a mistake.
If you actually believe that, we have to ask why you are in Obama's 47% because you're certainly stupid enough to be there if you think Social Security recipients, 100% disabled veterans, and low income people in general are ALL Obamugabe supporters!
Now we don't want anybody to think anyone is stupid unnecessarily ~ so it turned out somebody got to Romney, explained it to him, and he apologized.
Sad to see some of his most ardent supporters still out there beating the 47% drum ~ they'are like the chimp lineup over at the DNC trying the same trick ~ pounding that drum ~ but there's nothing there.