On Taxes and Entitlements

When 50% of the people don't pay income taxes and 33% of the people are on entitlement programs that's a tough row to hoe for the 17% of the rest of us.

Entitlements
"The number of Americans on food stamps is at an all-time high of 46.7 million people. Food-stamp spending, which more than doubled in four years to a record $75.7 billion in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2011, is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s biggest annual expense," according to reporter Alan Bjerga at abjerga@bloomberg.net writing on Sept 4, 2012 for bloomberg.com

The number of Americans that are now on some form of welfare entitlement program is staggering:

As shown in the chart presented by the Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee, about 10 million new people were added to the welfare rolls in just the two years from 2009 to 2011. AND... the total number of 108,000,000 does NOT include those receiving Social Security or Medicare.

In addition the overall poverty rate is now at an all-time high at 15% or 46.2 million people, up from 39.8 million, or 13.2 percent, in 2008. The official poverty line was an annual income of $23,021 for a family of four. 

Taxes
For the past four years we have heard Barack Obama sad refrain about taxing the rich more so that they pay their "fair share." 

From Center-Forward.org we get the following:
The federal tax system is generally progressive (versus regressive)—meaning tax rates are higher for wealthy people than for the poor. More than two-thirds of all federal taxes collected in 2010 came from the top 20% of taxpayers, and more than a fifth came from the wealthiest 1% of filers (with $500,000 in income or more). The top 1% also paid three-fourths of all estate taxes, although this accounted for just 1% of all federal revenues.
Meanwhile, the poorest fifth of taxpayers got more money back from the federal government than they paid in. This is because of programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, which gives lower-income working Americans tax refunds even if they don’t owe taxes.

2010 taxpayer income (in 2011 dollars)                         Share of all federal taxes paid

 $16,961 and under (Bottom 20%)                                                      -0.1%
 $16,962 to $33,870 (21%-40%)                                                            2.8%
 $33,871 to $59,154 (41%-60%)                                                            9.8%
 $59,155 to $103,428 (61%-80%)                                                          18.7%
 $103,428 and over (Top 20%)                                                            68.6%

Read More: Who Pays More Taxes?


And by the way, while we're talking about who pays taxes, how about those who don't!

Memo to the President:
You are so consumed, Mr. President, with raiding the wallets of those who are the job creators in this country, that you either can't see or don't care about the "tax cheats" under your own roof.
Note:  36 of your aides owe $833,970 in back taxes
Note:  413 EPA employees owe more than $19 million in back taxes
Note:  183 employees at the FDIC owe more than $3 million in back taxes 
Note:  5 employees at the U.S Tax Court owe $62,500 in back taxes
And you have the audacity to accuse those who pay more than 68% of all taxes of not paying "their fair share."  For shame, Sir!


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