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Demeter

(85,373 posts)
14. What I Learned at a Conservative Think Tank: Propaganda Now, Facts Later!
Wed Nov 21, 2012, 08:24 AM
Nov 2012
http://www.alternet.org/what-i-learned-conservative-think-tank-propaganda-now-facts-later?akid=9704.227380.QdxL4Q&rd=1&src=newsletter748106&t=5&paging=off

...I am amused to report that my former colleagues at the Heritage Foundation have lost none of their willingness to sacrifice truth to propaganda. The Heritage Foundation has published an “Index of Dependence on Government” by William W. Beach and Patrick Tyrrell which seeks to bolster Mitt Romney’s theme that at least 47 percent of Americans are parasitic, government-dependent “takers” rather than “makers” (hat tip to Thomas B. Edsall):

Today, more people than ever before depend on the federal government for housing, food, income, student aid, or other assistance once considered to be the responsibility of individuals, families, neighborhoods, churches, and other civil society institutions. The United States reached another milestone in 2010: For the first time in history, half the population pays no federal income taxes. It is the conjunction of these two trends — higher spending on dependence-creating programs, and an ever-shrinking number of taxpayers who pay for these programs — that concerns those interested in the fate of the American form of government.


What caught me eye in this latest piece of Heritage agitprop was this sentence: The United States reached a milestone in 2012: For the first time in history, half the population pays no federal income taxes. This is not just wrong. It is an error embarrassing enough to shame even a shameless propaganda mill like the Heritage Foundation. Heritage implies that a majority of Americans paid federal income taxes throughout American history, presumably back to the 1790s. Nothing could be further from the truth. For much of American history, one hundred percent of the population paid no federal income taxes, because there were none. And the federal income tax began to fall on the middle-class masses, not just the upper classes, only in the 1940s.

The first federal income tax in the U.S. was enacted in 1861 to help pay for the Civil War. It was abolished afterward, but recreated in 1894. After the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional, because it was not “apportioned among the states” the constitution was amended by the 16th Amendment to give Congress the power to levy income taxation. But until World War II a majority of Americans did not pay any federal income tax, either because they made too little money to be required to file returns, or because exemptions like the standard deduction eliminated any federal income tax liability. According to the conservative Tax Foundation, which has a friendlier relationship with facts than does the Heritage Foundation, as recently as 1940 the percentage of those who filed (a group smaller than the working-age population) who owed federal income taxes was 49.4 percent. In that year, Republican presidential candidate Wendell Willkie missed the opportunity to sneer at “the 49 percent.”

It was only during World War II, with the institution of the income tax with-holding system, that a majority of Americans became subject to federal income taxation. If it were accurate, the sentence in the Heritage Foundation’s “Index of Dependence on Government” would read: The United States reached a milestone in 2012: For the first time since World War II, half the population pays no federal income taxes....
OMG! Hugin Nov 2012 #1
I think I'll stick with the Big Lug in Green Demeter Nov 2012 #2
and into kink, too! bread_and_roses Nov 2012 #21
Good one. Ghost Dog Nov 2012 #48
Crude went right back down again Demeter Nov 2012 #3
Why Anonymous’ Claims about Election-Rigging Can’t Be Ignored Demeter Nov 2012 #4
Occupy Eradicates Approximately $5 Million In Debt Demeter Nov 2012 #5
Occupy's Rolling Jubilee Has Raised Enough to Forgive Almost $7 Million of Debt Demeter Nov 2012 #9
Walmart rattled by growing unrest ahead of Black Friday's strike Demeter Nov 2012 #6
Anatomy of the Walmart Strike: Walking Out, One Day at a Time Demeter Nov 2012 #7
Insurance Schemer Cops a Plea By Jake Bernstein Demeter Nov 2012 #8
YET ANOTHER FOR THE WALL OF SHAME: Ex-hedge fund manager Mathew Martoma accused of insider trading Demeter Nov 2012 #13
Oh, oh, oh, I may put those knitting needles to use yet! Tansy_Gold Nov 2012 #20
Yeah, mine are sharp and at the ready, too Warpy Nov 2012 #57
Ten Numbers the Rich Would Like Fudged By Paul Buchheit Demeter Nov 2012 #10
Why are we bailing out the banks? – Part Four – What happens now? Demeter Nov 2012 #11
So, what would your plan for Greece be? Demeter Nov 2012 #12
What next for Europe? imho: Ghost Dog Nov 2012 #52
beat me to it ... bread_and_roses Nov 2012 #24
What I Learned at a Conservative Think Tank: Propaganda Now, Facts Later! Demeter Nov 2012 #14
DRONES: Privacy Death Stars Approved By Congress FEBRUARY Demeter Nov 2012 #15
QUERY: NOW THAT OBAMA HAS HIS SECOND TERM Demeter Nov 2012 #16
Some U.S. banks awash in ID theft tax-fraud proceeds as IRS cracks down FEBRUARY Demeter Nov 2012 #17
i want to wish the SMW & WEE crew a very Happy Thanksgiving! xchrom Nov 2012 #18
That's my kind of Thanksgiving dinner Tansy_Gold Nov 2012 #26
here's to you Mistress Tansy! thank you! xchrom Nov 2012 #28
Ditto on all of that! rusty fender Nov 2012 #56
I Second That! Demeter Nov 2012 #40
Happy Thanksgiving Miss Demeter xchrom Nov 2012 #43
A Pair of Turkeys! Demeter Nov 2012 #46
! xchrom Nov 2012 #47
A pair? This place is a full house of turkeys! Fuddnik Nov 2012 #55
Are you serious? Demeter Nov 2012 #58
Milk Chocolate is pretty much harmless for dogs. Fuddnik Nov 2012 #60
Thanksgiving is the favorite day for my pets DemReadingDU Nov 2012 #62
Thirded! Hugin Nov 2012 #61
U.S. Stock Futures Fluctuate Amid Deadlock in Greek Talks xchrom Nov 2012 #19
Deere Profit Misses Estimates After Sales Slow in Europe, Asia xchrom Nov 2012 #22
Lira Beats Mark as Europe Suffers From Stronger Euro xchrom Nov 2012 #23
Well, since the Germans are making the rules to their benefit Demeter Nov 2012 #41
Jobless Claims in U.S. Decreased 41,000 Last Week to 410,000 xchrom Nov 2012 #25
So, is this from companies issuing temporary layoffs or what? Roland99 Nov 2012 #31
i depend on you guys -- maybe demeter or tansy or others will know. nt xchrom Nov 2012 #33
European Stocks Decline Amid Deadlock in Greek Debt Talks xchrom Nov 2012 #27
US Futures - flat again...like the calm before the storm Roland99 Nov 2012 #29
It's a holiday lull Demeter Nov 2012 #42
November flash manufacturing PMI at 5-month high Roland99 Nov 2012 #30
London Bankers Become Landlords as Rents Hit Record xchrom Nov 2012 #32
Dangerous Euro Zone-IMF Split Persists over Greek Debt xchrom Nov 2012 #34
Hostess plans to liquidate Roland99 Nov 2012 #35
The union really needed good leadership attuned to modern practices Demeter Nov 2012 #44
I think the union's back would have been to the wall under any leadership bread_and_roses Nov 2012 #59
How The Government Set Up A Fake Bank To Launder Drug Money DemReadingDU Nov 2012 #36
Thanksgiving Song - Mary Chapin Carpenter xchrom Nov 2012 #37
Alice's Restaurant Roland99 Nov 2012 #50
... xchrom Nov 2012 #53
Just like Alice. Ghost Dog Nov 2012 #63
This is America Charlie Brown, The Mayflower Voyagers Part 1 xchrom Nov 2012 #38
This is America Charlie Brown, The Mayflower Voyagers Part 2 xchrom Nov 2012 #39
I wish the sound worked on my 'puter! I've never seen those. Demeter Nov 2012 #45
Widening budget deficit casts fresh gloom on UK economy Ghost Dog Nov 2012 #49
Video: Bionic Mannequins Spy on Shoppers, Catch Criminals DemReadingDU Nov 2012 #51
Shades of Maxwell Smart Demeter Nov 2012 #54
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