I know he doesn't like to be confused with FACTS (Facts are such stubborn things), but here is how it breaks down:
For what it’s worth, this division of “makers” and “takers” isn’t true. Among the Americans who paid no federal income taxes in 2011, 61 percent paid payroll taxes — which means they have jobs and, when you account for both sides of the payroll tax, they paid 15.3 percent of their income in taxes, which is higher than the 13.9 percent that Romney paid. Another 22 percent were elderly.
So 83 percent of those not paying federal income taxes are either working and paying payroll taxes or they’re elderly and Romney is promising to protect their benefits because they’ve earned them. The remainder, by and large, aren’t paying federal income or payroll taxes because they’re unemployed. But that’s a small fraction of the country.
Behind this argument, however, is a very clever policy two-step that’s less about who pays taxes now and more about who is going to pay to reduce the deficit in the coming years. Here’s how it works.
Part of the reason so many Americans don’t pay federal income taxes is that Republicans have passed a series of very large tax cuts that wiped out the income-tax liability for many Americans. That’s why, when you look at graphs of the percent of Americans who don’t pay income taxes, you see huge jumps after Ronald Reagan’s 1986 tax reform and George W. Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. So whenever you hear that half of Americans don’t pay federal income taxes, remember: Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush helped build that. (You also see a jump after the financial crisis begins in 2008, but we can expect that to be mostly temporary.)
Some of those tax cuts for the poor were there to make the tax cuts for the rich more politically palatable.
BearMtnHIB wrote: Since all military forces amount to less than 2% of the population, it's not the military he's referring to.
Deflect all you want- this country is full of looters, and we don't count the military as a part of that group.
Nice try though. Leftist Propaganda.
Romney admitted on Fox News that the 47% included combat troops and elderly.
What is interesting is the right wingers who are complaining about the "looters" and "moochers" are same idiots who supported Reagan's "tax cuts" which created those "looters". Reagan greatly expanded the EITC saying at the time:
“The Earned Income Tax Credit is the best anti-poverty, the best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress.” This expansion of the EITC is the number one factor on the ability of the lower income classes to be able to avoid paying federal income taxes.
This discussion though is even more interesting in showing what absolute hypocrites posters like Bear and Lionshead are. They rant and rave about the incredible burden that taxes have on individuals and businesses when eliminating tax breaks on the wealthiest one percent, then turn around and rant and rave about the low taxes paid by the lower income classes.
So what is it, are increasing taxes on the poor the objective of the right wingers, if so, why not on the wealthiest as well. Or is your class warfare strictly intended to keep ripping off the poor to give to the rich?
"Remember to always be yourself. Unless you can be batman. Then always be batman." Unknown
So in studying analysis of why "47%" of Americans do not pay federal income tax, a segment are excused due to their status as military troops deployed in combat zones, a segment are retired after decades of paying taxes, a segment are disabled, such as injured military veterans.
The largest segment of the remainder, who are the working poor and pay higher rates of taxes than Rmoney through payroll taxes, sales taxes and the like, do not pay federal income taxes due to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the per child tax credit. These two credits are the biggest reason that households are not liable for federal income taxes. Guess who are responsible for the expansion of those two tax credits? The Republicans. Reagan expanded the EITC greatly, while Bush expanded the per child tax credit. So if you have a problem with the working poor not paying federal income taxes, blame it on the Republicans.
"Remember to always be yourself. Unless you can be batman. Then always be batman." Unknown
Does Romney even know what he thinks about the issues anymore? It seems like he is in constant etch-a-sketch mode now.....changing his tune every day depending on which way the political wind is blowing. Which Romney do the conservatives here like now? The original moderate Romney? The Romney who now is hard core right wing? Do you believe that Romney will stay far right as a president or will he revert to his Governor of Massachusetts moderate mode?
My husband and I, recently retired, are among the people that Mitt Romney described with such disdain in the fundraiser video revealed last week. We are dependent on federal and state entitlements. Romney aimed his scorn at the "47 percent (of Americans) who pay no federal income taxes" and "feel entitled to health care," among other things.
Our household does not pay zero taxes, but our federal income taxes are a fraction of what we paid as full-time workers. Our Social Security income is untaxed. The substantial value of our Medicare is not subject to taxes. Both of us were helped over rough spots throughout our lives by federal entitlements. Without them, we would not be enjoying a middle-class retirement in our own home, and we are grateful to our country.
As recent retirees, my husband and I depend on Medicare because without it, comparable individual coverage would at our age cost more than $15,000 a year each. We also depend on the federal mortgage deduction and could not own the house we live in without a state benefit that allowed us to carry our low property tax rate to our current retirement home.
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Thus, Americans who in Romney's view "believe the government has a responsibility to them, who believe they are victims, who believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing" would help fund the yachts of billionaires through reductions in their food stamps or child care credits. Others of us might pay for their luxuries through limits on and fees for our Medicare and perhaps taxes on our Social Security.
Depending on which capital gains tax plan came to pass, Romney could personally benefit by millions a year, — a windfall he would no doubt feel entitled to. Maybe he'd use it to create jobs for us as his elderly maid and butler.
Hey, Gov. Money-Boo-Boo, this is why elitist "unemployed" scavengers like yourself, who make 14.1% on non-labor/wages investments, and who talk about 47% of the population as "parasites" (while hiding their money offshore) will NEVER get my vote.
