Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Glenn Reynolds peddles the "half the country doesn't pay taxes" lie.

Putz, still very non-partisany and libertarianish -- just loves to parrot objectively false right-wing talking points.
CHANGE: Obama Wants Americans to “Pay Their Fair Share” Except For the 47% Who Pay No Taxes.
Yeah, that's not true.

But the modifiers here — federal and income — are important. Income taxes aren’t the only kind of federal taxes that people pay. There are also payroll taxes and investment taxes, among others. And, of course, people pay state and local taxes, too.

Even if the discussion is restricted to federal taxes (for which the statistics are better), a vast majority of households end up paying federal taxes. Congressional Budget Office data suggests that, at most, about 10 percent of all households pay no net federal taxes. The number 10 is obviously a lot smaller than 47.

The reason is that poor families generally pay more in payroll taxes than they receive through benefits like the Earned Income Tax Credit. It’s not just poor families for whom the payroll tax is a big deal, either. About three-quarters of all American households pay more in payroll taxes, which go toward Medicare and Social Security, than in income taxes.

Not only is the "ZOMG half the country doesn't pay taxes!" bullshit a lie -- it's a lie that, if they had an single ounce of intellectual consistency, they'd be celebrating.

What, they want Obama to raise taxes now? I can't keep up.

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