Posted on 09/18/2012 6:42:04 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Mitt Romney's latest campaign setback is a leaked video that shows him slagging the 47 percent of the population who, he says, will always vote for Barack Obama, because they want everything for free from the government.
The 47 percent number presumably refers to the percent of the population who don't pay Federal Income Taxes, which of course is just one kind of tax.
From the Tax Policy Center, these three pie charts show who those people are.
Kevin Roose at NYMag puts the data into words:
But back to the 47 percent. There are two primary ways to pay no (or negative) federal income taxes. The first is to be poor, and the second is to be elderly. In 2011, of the 18.1 percent of American households who paid no federal tax (meaning, no federal income or payroll tax), more than half were elderly, and most of the other half were non-elderly people making below $20,000 a year. The other sliver, roughly one in 20 non-payers, were people who made more than $20,000 in household income.
The reason being poor helps is because, with a combination of tax credits (like the earned income credit and the child credit) and deductions, many people earning under $20,000 a year can zero out their overall rate. The primary reason being elderly helps is that Social Security benefits aren't taxed as income, so if all (or most) of your income comes from your monthly Social Security check, your taxable income is marginal or non-existent.
So there you have it. The poor and elderly.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Totall agree with you...the truth only hurts if you’re a libtard.
The whole argument for the income tax when it was introduced was that it would only be paid by the very wealthy. And, of course, people do pay taxes via payroll, gas, etc..
Campaigning to raise the income tax on the working poor is really not a very good strategy.
This is supposedly a “gotcha” expose of the Republican claim about who pays income taxes. Which completely avoids the assertion the Dems have been bellering about that the rich don’t pay their fair share of taxes. So the clown who wrote this article pulls a sleight-of-hand and says that because many of the 47& are poor and elderly, and the rest are paying payroll taxes, the Republican argument is invalid. That’s not the crux of the problem. The problem is the people who are already paying close to 100% of the federal income tax burden are being accused by Dems of not paying enough. If close to 100% is not enough, how much is enough?
I am a 28% no federal tax but i am paying payroll taxes. I am proud of that, but wish I was a 53.6%
Who wants to be 18.4% unless they have no draw from the government.
What if as we get older we push to be self dependent wealthy. Nothing we do would cause the gov to pull taxes on us. Only those working would pay for what gov is doing that day. We are spending our weath fon those making thier money.
What if I was out of work and was not making a payroll tax. I would not need Gov to fund my life. I would think there would be charities I could goto to get the help my family needs. I would be dependent on my local charities that my community supports. I would strive to be the one helping the charities. Giving back to those that need is awesome.
What is wrong with the discussion? Why cant we look at what the Gov is and make it right. I dont need a Fed gov when I could have local Charities!!!!!!!
A point that WILL be overlooked by the MSM.
the part that pays payroll tax but not income tax are at least in part coverd by the EITC
“EITC, the Earned Income Tax Credit, sometimes called EIC is a tax credit to help you keep more of what you earned. It is a refundable federal income tax credit for low to moderate income working individuals and families. Congress originally approved the tax credit legislation in 1975 in part to offset the burden of social security taxes and to provide an incentive to work. When EITC exceeds the amount of taxes owed, it results in a tax refund to those who claim and qualify for the credit.”
www.irs.gov/Individuals/EITC-Home-Page—It’s-easier-than-ever-to-find-out-if-you-qualify-for-EITC
Which refunds part or in some cases more than the amout payed as payroll taxes. But why quibble about facts.
EITC is a grievous mistake, Advanced EITC adds insult to injury...in case no one knows, Advanced EITC is where a mooch with a job and a paycheck gets EITC each year, he/she can apply for “Advanced” EITC where the EMPLOYER has to dole out the expected annual payment adjust over each paycheck. The insult? The employer has to foot the cost of this until he files his own taxes each year. DISGUSTING
It’s my pet peeve, dishonesty.
PAYROLL TAX is NOT an INCOME TAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so damned tired of people trying to make out like it is. They are the REQUIRED contributions to Social Security and Medicare - NOT FEDERAL TAXES. So the author’s premise it is just the ‘poor and elderly’ is bullshit.
Indeed;versus those who believe in 'Obama money'. . .forever.
We Conservatives have allowed the liberals to create this 50% underclass. It has taken them 30+ years and they have done it slowly.
Obviously, it needs to be changed. But how and at what speed?
IMHO, our first priority should be to stop the growth. Grandfather those who are in that class right now and raise the bar a good bit for future applicants.
Our second priority should be to reduce taxpayer funded giveaways for the current class. But slowly. Say, maybe 5% per year.
This issue will not be solved overnight. But we absolutely must stop the growth that is threatening to bring down the country.
Does that 53% percentage include the plethora of unionized government employees at all levels that are underworked and overpaid retiring in their early 50s at 90% of their last paycheck??? How many of these are going to vote for you??
You just insulted a whole lot of the working poor who pay payroll taxes and the elderly not living on those fat government pensions.
Whose votes are you really going after???
Who is John Galt?..............
More on EITC....
In 2008, 25 million tax filers received $51.6 billion in EITC benefits. Of this amount, $50.5 billion was refundable in excess of their income tax liability. Also in 2008, some 25.3 million filers received $30.7 billion in child tax credit benefits, with more than 18 million of these filers getting $20.5 billion in refundable checks. Many families are eligible for both the EITC and the child credit. These are not refunds of overpaid tax; they are payments to people who have already gotten back everything that was withheld from their paychecks during the year.
Fair and makes so much sense; save to those 'Reason challenged' and/or the 'wagon riders'; as the case may be.
If Ryan had said this, there would be pressure now to remove him from the ticket. Romney does not understand that a good chunk of the 53 percent is also for Obama, particularly suburban women in PA, OH, MI, VA, and WI.
I emailed the author and told him so. He and his editor, especially working for a business magazine, should know better.
Watch the press conference.
Romney said that Obama has a floor of about 47%, he has a very high percentage as a floor, and that the difference between his 47% and Obama’s 47% is that Democrats love the idea of government dependence.
He made no allusions to 47% being dependent on the government.
Yes, this is right. Conservatives are too confused to know what they should do. They are always, like Orrin G. Hatch et al, trying to go along to get along.
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