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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRomney Rejects Ronald Reagan
Included in the 47% who don't pay federal income taxes (but of course, most of whom do pay federal payroll taxes, not to mention sales taxes, which virtually 100% of people pay) are large numbers of American workers who benefit from the Earned Income Tax Credit (for a fuller discussion breaking down the myths surrounding the "47%" statistic, check this out from PoliticsUSA). http://www.politicususa.com/half-americans-taxes.html
The EITC provides a tax credit to people who work but earn an income below a certain level. Most of the money paid out under the EITC, by law, goes to workers with dependent children. The EITC can provide enough of a tax credit such that the working person has no net federal tax income obligation and can even receive a tax refund. In other words, a decent number of the "47%" Mitt Romney is talking about are working people benefiting from the EITC.
So, are these folks "victims" who refuse to break free of government dependence and take responsibility for their own lives? Is that what being on the EITC means? Let's ask our good friend and reasonably influential conservative Ronald Reagan, who called the Earned Income Tax Credit:
Crikey!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/18/1133223/-Romney-Rejects-Ronald-Reagan
BumRushDaShow
(129,795 posts)so he can keep more of his money by lowering his effective tax rate down to 25% (regardless of that fact that he is paying 0% - 17% max).
pampango
(24,692 posts)who cant help themselves. Now, according to the Pew Research Center, only 40 percent of Republicans believe that.
Romneys comments also reveal that he has lost any sense of the social compact.
The Republican Party, and apparently Mitt Romney, too, has shifted over toward a much more hyperindividualistic and atomistic social view from the Reaganesque language of common citizenship to the libertarian language of makers and takers. Theres no way the country will trust the Republican Party to reform the welfare state if that party doesnt have a basic commitment to provide a safety net for those who suffer for no fault of their own.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/opinion/brooks-thurston-howell-romney.html