I don’t buy this argument that people are being simply demonized because “they don’t pay any income taxes”.
So they pay Social Security taxes and a few other things. So do I. And so do many, many other people.
But I pay a boatload of INCOME tax beyond SS and other such things, while they do not. How does that make it anything other than redistribution?
I agree. Federal income taxes are the largest source of income for the federal government. Payroll taxes were setup to fund specific programs in which taxes have some relationship to benefits. The situation is far worse than the statistic about 45% pay no federal income taxes. At least half of this group pays negative income taxes (refundable tax credits). The IRS has become a major welfare agency. Even worse, fraud is rampant in refundable tax credits especially among illegal aliens.
Republicans should call for an elimination of refunable tax credits. Every able individual with at least a small level of income should pay federal income taxes.