Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Romney now Right Wing Hero for Dumping on 47 percent of Americans. Says a lot about Conservatives!!!

With the help of a little messaging from Fox News, which I watched today, it appears conservative voters just love the idea that 47 percent of Americans should be ignored.

We're living in strange times. Take a look at the map showing the concentrations of Americans who don't pay federal taxes. Looks like the teabillies are in for a surprise.

Here's where you can find Romney's "takers"

Click to enlarge
Here's the Obama campaign answer video:




WaPo: Take this simple breakdown from the Tax Policy Center of what households paid in taxes in 2011: Here’s what we have:

— 53.6 percent of households pay the federal income tax. Presumably Romney is okay with these folks.

— 28.3 percent of households pay no federal income tax, but they do pay the payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare. That means they don’t need Mitt Romney to convince them to “take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” They already have jobs.

Most of the households in this group don’t pay any federal income tax because they qualify for enough deductions that their income tax liability has shrunk to zero … “a couple with two children earning less than $26,400. They get an $11,600 standard deduction and four exemptions of $3,700, and that takes their liability to zero.” Indeed, it’s worth noting that many of these deductions and credits were part of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, which Romney wants to extend.

— 10.3 percent of households pay no federal income tax because they’re retired and elderly. Mitt Romney thinks that these households are all irresponsible freeloaders.

— That leaves 6.9 percent of households which are non-elderly and have incomes less than $20,000 per year and aren’t paying the payroll tax. These poorer households pay neither income taxes nor payroll taxes. Meanwhile, just as a reminder, the vast majority of Americans still pay state and local taxes — in fact, these taxes tend to be more regressive. 
There's more at their fact checker:
Yes, as of 2011, about 46 percent of American households paid no income tax … “Income taxes” are just one type of tax that people pay, and for most working Americans —about three-quarters — payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare far exceed what they pay in income taxes.

In other words, substitute the phrase “federal taxes” for “income taxes,” and then the picture changes dramatically. Indeed, when all federal taxes are included, the percentage of people who pay no taxes drops to 10 percent or lower, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Moreover, if some people do not pay income taxes, it is because of policies often advocated by Republicans, such as child tax credits and tax benefits for the working poor. President Richard M. Nixon offered an early version of the earned income tax credit, and it was enacted under Gerald Ford and expanded under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) pushed for the child tax credit — signed into law by Democrat Bill Clinton in 1997 and later expanded by George W. Bush in 2004.

According to a map published by the Tax Foundation, eight of the top 10 states with the lowest income-tax liability are the heart of Romney country — the Deep South. Meanwhile, most of the states with the lowest levels of nonpayers are Obama states.


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