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Payroll are distinctly different than federal income taxes. Payroll taxes were designed to provide specific benefits. You must pay payroll taxes to receive benefits. SS and Medicare are very progressive in benefit structure. The SS tax is not regressive. It has a cap because benefits are capped. Even with capped benefits, SS is a terrible plan for higher income individuals.

The 50 percent not paying federal income taxes are tax freeloaders. Federal income taxes are the major tax funding the federal government and many state government functions. Everyone (except the truly disabled) should pay at the 10 percent rate except for a limited time and amount exemption. Tax welfare (large levels of fraudulent returns) should not reduce income tax liabilities below 10 percent.

We have become a nation of tax freeloaders who willing vote to tax others while receiving large levels of government transfer payments without paying the principal tax that funds the government.

Your comments reflect a strong leftist bias. I expect these comments from leftist blogs.

Payroll are distinctly different than federal income taxes. Payroll taxes were designed to provide specific benefits.

Irrelevant. The benefits and the taxes have been decoupled. The payroll taxes themselves are regressive. It doesn't matter what the benefits are, because those paying the taxes have no say in paying them, and have no choice in opting out (e.g. you have a disease that makes early death likely, like sickle cell or severe diabetes). All the money goes into the general fund. The purpose or intent of the tax has nothing to do with the effect of the tax itself, which is regressive.

The 50 percent not paying federal income taxes are tax freeloaders.

No they are not. They are paying taxes. A guy making $50,000 a year with eight kids, paying no fed income taxes, but paying about $7,500 a year in FICA/Medicare who dies of a stroke on his 65th birthday, and took no fed benefits except the indirect benefit of having a military is not a tax freeloader.

I advocated going back to NO income or SS/Medicare tax, and you claim that I have a leftward bias. That is laughable. It is also an attempt to dodge my explicit points which you have not addressed so far, except to indirectly admit that SS and Medicare are taxes.

I will repeat. When Rush states that 50% pay no federal taxes, when many of them in fact pay significant payroll taxes, he is being misleading, and technically inaccurate. BECAUSE PAYROLL TAXES ARE TAXES.