Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you likely already know that Mitt Romney created a bit of an uproar when, behind closed doors, he suggested that because 47% of all Americans pay no income tax, they will vote Democratic “no matter what;” the theory being that Romney’s proposals to cut income tax cannot resonate with a group that pays no income tax.
Now, obviously, there’s no way to link tax filings to voter records to test the accuracy of Romney’s statement, but we can learn a bit more about who comprises this tax-indifferent 47 percent. And to that end, the Tax Policy Center’s got us covered with Five Myths About the 47 Percent.
Among the more interesting tidbits:
- The TPC estimates that of the 47% percent, only 0.1% earn income in excess of $200,000. That would indicate that fewer taxpayers are “gaming the system” than some would have you believe.
- Rather, the vast majority of people who pay no federal income tax have low earnings, are elderly or have children at home. Furthermore, fewer than half of individuals in households with incomes below $30,000 voted in 2008, compared with about 60 percent of people with higher incomes. And because these lower income taxpayers do — when they vote — tend to vote Democratic, it appears Romney may actually benefit, rather than suffer, from this tax-indifferent — and apparently — election-indifferent — portion of the population.
- Many of the taxpayers who pay no income tax are not the beneficiaries of Democratic “safety net” legislation, but rather bipartisan efforts to help those in need. For example, Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both favored the earned-income tax credit (EITC), which has helped millions of families stave off poverty.
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You may also want to balance your coverage by checking out all the work the Tax Foundation has done on this general issue. (e.g., http://taxfoundation.org/blog/context-and-background-nonpayers-debate) Especially worth studying (since it has not gotten ehough attention) is their work on the distribution of the Federal Benefits received versus Federal Taxes paid ratio among the population, which shows that 60% percent are above 1.0 (and that is after disproportionately allocating the benefits of defense benefits and interest to high earners). Incidentally, none of this work (nor the comments on how much “bipartisan” or not this aid is) could possibly capture the jump in the last three years in enrollment in SSDI, Food Stamps, and other means tested programs for which enrollment criteria and attitudes have changed susbstantially. These increases are starting to look as structural increases. Finally, the political debate behind this data is silly. Clearly the issue is not for whom will the whole of the 47% will vote, but the admission that the subset of those for whom getting unchallenged access to these benefits is the No. 1 election issue is not in play.
Will do, thanks for the link.
“fewer than half of individuals in households with incomes below $30,000 voted in 2008″
That is just such a depressing piece of information. Apathy and indifference are doing so much damage to our country. Regardless of income, I wish people would take advantage of the freedoms we enjoy here, like the ability to vote. ugh.