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 ...
Mitt Romney’s latest campaign setback”
Sort of like his Libya “gaffe”
I’d like to “slag” the 47% too. How does one go about “slagging” somebody?
He talked about the elephant in the room and I am glad he did because people always tell me thats why Mitt can’t win excatly what Mitt said word for word
I may get blasted (nothing new :-)), but I know we are the party of lowered taxes, but we are not the party of no taxes. I think everyone should pay SOMETHING even if 5 bucks. It is sickening to me that 47 percent of the population are muchers.
This article is wrong. We live on Social Security and our SS is taxed as income.........thanks to Bill Clinton. Every April we write a check to the IRS.
Was listening to Laura Ingram; she mentioned (credit to her Mother) the old adage of 'too many people in the wagon; and not enough to pull it.'
Romney only has to say; he is appealing to and 'for' more wagon pullers; because America needs them desperately.
Mitt needs only to put this in a context that the Left cannot deride - without making themselves look stupid, that is.
Was listening to Laura Ingram; she mentioned (credit to her Mother) the old adage of 'too many people in the wagon; and not enough to pull it.'
Romney only has to say; he is appealing to and 'for' more wagon pullers; because America needs them desperately.
Mitt needs only to put this in a context that the Left cannot deride - without making themselves look stupid, that is.
Earned Income Tax Credit for instance. Not a bad refund considering what they "didn't" pay.
But they pay payroll taxes, they pay payroll taxes scream the media. Well don’t payroll taxes go to individual benefits like social security and medicare? They certainly don’t pay for the defense or general welfare of the nation.
Setback?
It makes me even MORE enthusiastic to vote for him.
I was not sure he was aware of these things, but I am glad to know he is.
So let me see if I have it straight MSM- Obama is the CAUSE of 47% of the people needing to be dependant on the government, but Romney makes a ‘gaffe’ by MENTIONING IT...???
Ok...
This is a case of watching the pea. Payroll taxes are essentially a forced saving program - everyone gets a % of their payments back, in some case the % is more than 100%. So the bottom line is that there remains a large % of folks who do not contribute via income taxes.
That said, I would have cautioned Romney from using this approach. Just ask Maggie Thatcher. Her poll tax, which is the natural implication of this line of argument, was an easy way to rally the disgruntled and demoralize the rest. Romney should avoid handing sticks to his opponents unless he is willing to follow through and go toe to toe with them. I certainly hope he has an answer when Barry throws this back at him in the debates.
Everybody pays for regulations, costs of compliance, etc.
Those on food stamps would get more stuff if prices weren’t inflated by subsidies, tort lawsuits, environmental policies, etc.
When we’re talking about a payroll tax, aren’t we really talking about social security, medicare, and state disability insurance?
We all know they’re going to get back every cent they pay in normal payroll taxes, plus the earned income credit you mentioned.
I’m sick and tired of the Left acting as if these people are taxed unfairly. Bull s—t!
Reading the comments after the article, some clown wanted to know from one of the other respondents if he would be happy if they (the gov) were to tax SS (benefits I assume). Uh, they (SS admin) hold out taxes on every check I get. I did this so I wouldn’t need/be required to file every quarter. I don’t want to file every year and surely don’t want to deal with these clowns every three months.
Helping keep mankind warm for 65 years.
Are people who pay payroll tax but not income tax going to think Romney was talking about them? Maybe not. And if not why would Romney’s statement bother them? This is just another distraction attempt by the LSM (imo).
Obozo is fond of saying that everyone should ‘have some skin in the game.’
There should be a law that if you don’t pay income taxes, you can’t vote...........
RE: Obama is the CAUSE of 47% of the people needing to be dependant on the government,
Actually, the Dems are the CAUSE of more people being dependent on government. They in fact want to create policies to make sure that the 47% increase to greater than 50% so that they will have a majority of this constituency in perpetuity.
NOt all are slackers..
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