The Tax Foundation via The Atlantic
There's a secret video going around the web showing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney writing off the votes of the 47 percent of Americans who, he says, pay no income tax, because they will all vote for President Obama. Maybe you've heard about it.
The video, though recorded without Romney's knowledge or consent, doesn't prove that he believes everyone who doesn’t pay income taxes are default Obama voters. It only suggests that his donors do. Indeed, attacking the 47 percent for being lackadaisical do-nothings is a narrative that has been developing among conservatives for some time.
But are 47 percent of Americans really paying no income taxes? And who are these 47 percent? Where do they hail from?
The answer to the first question seems to be yes. According to the Tax Policy Center, about 47 percent of Americans didn’t pay income taxes in 2011. Getting deeper into the numbers we see that about two-thirds of that 47 percent pay payroll tax, and almost all of the rest are either elderly (read: retired and collecting Social Security) or are members of households making less that $20,000 a year.
The Tax Foundation has drawn up a handy map of the distribution of "nonpayers" across the country, and it shows that of the top 10 states with the highest percentage of nonpayers eight are red states won by McCain in 2008. In fact, most of these states rest squarely in the Bible Belt. As David Graham pointed out over at The Atlantic, "the map of states with the highest level of poverty resembles this map fairly closely."
Simply, to equate the 47 percent with Obama voters is wrong. The map above would suggest that something closer to the opposite is true, if not for the fact that low-income people — who make up such a large fraction of the 47 percent — are more likely to vote Democrat, even in states that are traditionally red. Still, whatever the electoral split in the 47 percent, it's at least certain that a good many are Republican.
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There should be a minimum tax, say $4000- that everyone should pay. That way, there would be no 47%. We would have everyone in the same boat. 100% paying taxes.
Of course in your top 10 (or bottom 10 states) you have some of the most agrarian, and the states with the highest populations of both poorly educated and the magnet states for illegal immigrants with low work skills coming across our southern border, O'Donnell, as well as the Sun Belt states that have consistently drawn our retirees to their lower costs of living.
But these folks are surely amongst the 47% of non tax payers, but they surely aren't begrudged their status by Romney or the Republican Party, especially the retired population (which includes, of course, Mitt Romney who has not drawn a regular salary since 2002, and that was only a token $100,000 a year from Bain Capital until he had finished negotiations on the payout of his portion of the franchise value and good will of that large and successful private equity investment firm that he founded and led with so much intelligence, energy and diligence). But for even these truly needy and honorably retired individuals, which Mitt Romney and the Republican Party will serve, are not particularly interested in his message of tax reform and tax cuts to spur economic growth, simply because they pay no taxes, which is what Romney was saying.
BTW, other than New Mexico (which is leaning Obama), and Florida (which is a toss up state), the other eight states are all solidly in the Romney camp. So what exactly is the point of this post, O'Donnell?
A $4000 Tax ?!?! You are Definately a Romney Fan, Rusty ! Let me guess you have $50,000 per plate dinners too!
But I have a Better Plan republicans Will Love ! It is whomever caused the problem should fix it! So since all of this began under he Bush adminstration and Both Romney & Ryan Supported those failed policies and they are both Multi-Millionaires from it they should lead the way in paying to fix it ! Fair, just and Right huh Rusty?!?! And not one struggling family had to choose between food and your ridiculious $4,000 Tax.
The worst that would happen under my plan is that maybe Mitt wouldn't Be able to Blow $100,000 on a drasage horse or a $50,000 on a 4 car elevator (he'd have to cut back to a pony for the kids and the 2 car elevator!)!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Lol- no, I couldn't even afford a measly $40,000 a plate dinner from Obama.
Heck, let's assume for a minute that democrats are right and the problem was caused by deregulation. Now since bush drove the largest regulatory increases in history, at least before Obama (and remember, Obama was defending his administration's record on regulations by pointing to the fact that he had regulated less than bush), and bill Clinton was the president that signed the financial dereg bills most people talk about, then, to add your concepts to the mix: how would democrats fix what they broke? See how goofy it gets when assigning blame to one side only?
I can hope that republicans will be afforded the opportunity to fix it. Hooey changes hasn't worked very well, and neither has trickle down obamanomics (invest at the top into Solyndra, shovel ready jobs, banks, etc, then let the jobs roll.
It appears that the republicans who had 4 years to be instrumental on fixing these problems decided to make sure to not fix anything and in fact exacerbate the problems by stalling and preventing anything that may be construed as constructive...all in the partisan plan to limit President Obama to one term. That does not appear to have been a winning strategy and all they are accomplishing is unneeded suffering for millions and they can also expect to lose their seats in both the house and the senate.
What has been lost in this conversation about Mitt Romney's Boca Raton comments is that even though 47% don't pay income taxes, they pay other taxes (payroll, state and local taxes). This 47% is not exempt from all taxes. Most of the 47% earn their living at service and retail jobs that sustain the American lifestyle.
There is something very peculiar going on when the very mention of taxes invokes irrational conversations about why the poor don't pay more taxes.