The 47% of Americans who pay no actual taxes are deadbeats, and it's time they started paying. We need to have this debate; we need to find out what kind of country this is. It's time to stop running from it.
Oh yes they are, which is why they are called payroll taxes. Once you make your contributions they no longer belong to you. SCOTUS made that determination in Flemming vs Nestor
When you pay into a fund, and eventually get your money back, that isn't a tax.
You may never get your money back. A single person could pay into the system for 50 years, die just before he started collecting a pension, and get nothing except a small burial allowance. This is part of the myth the liberals like to create that somehow there is a bag of money with your name on it that contains all your contributions.
SS and Medicare are pay as you go systems with today's workers paying for today's retirees. They are also Ponzi schemes with those in retirement now collecting far more in benefits than they contributed. That will change as the society ages. In 1950 there were 16 workers for every retiree; today it is 3.3; and by 2030 there will be just 2.
It is also worth noting that during the times when SS was running a surplus--more taken in as revenue than paid out in benefits--the surplus was deposited into the General Fund and spent on other things. In its place the Treasury issued non-market, interest bearing T-bills in the amount of the surplus and deposited them into the SSTF, which currently contains $2.6 trillion. That $2.6 trillion is part of our $16 trillion national debt and held as "Intragovernmental Holdings." Other government trust funds work the same way including Medicare and federal pensions.
The 47% of Americans who pay no actual taxes are deadbeats, and it's time they started paying. We need to have this debate; we need to find out what kind of country this is. It's time to stop running from it.
Given our graduated tax system, many in the 47% are working but don't earn enough along with various deductions to pay taxes. Some, including illegal aliens, even receive EITC. The so-called working poor also pay sales taxes on gas, clothing, and food.
We do need to reform our tax system so that everyone has skin in the game. Calling people deadbeats is not helpful if we want to win. It is unfortunate that Romney inelegantly phrased it the way he did, but he was at a donor meeting and talking in the context of political strategy. The Left insinuated themselves in the meeting as part of their strategy to destroy Romney. They dropped this bombshell now to divert attention away from Libya and to be a knockout blow to Romney. It is their October surprise come early.
Romney should use this as an opportunity to discuss the very issues that animated the Tea Party. The welfare state is bankrupting us. We can't afford it. Government cannot keep all the promises it has made. We will become Greece if we don't stop this culture of dependency.