Sen. Orrin Hatch believes he has found a way to fix our national revenue and deficit crisis. The poor need to do more:
And I hear how they're so caring for the poor and so forth. The poor need jobs. And they also need to share some of the responsibility.
Now we don't want the really poor people who are in poverty to pay income taxes but 51% of all households? And that's going up by the way because of our friend in the White House and his allies.
Contrary to Hatch's claim that the poor need to do more and are not taxed enough, here's the truth:
Nearly half of U.S. households pay no federal income taxes, but most reportedly pay other taxes
Tax Policy Center: 47 percent of U.S. households will pay no federal income tax this year. In a June 29, 2009, report, the Tax Policy Center (TPC) stated that "[e]arlier this year, [President] Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5), which, among other things, temporarily put into place some of the refundable credits proposed during the campaign. TPC estimates that under the new law, 47 percent of tax units will owe no income tax in 2009." The Associated Press cited that statistic in an April 7 article, noting that "their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability."
AP: "[V]ast majority of people who escape federal income taxes still pay other taxes." The AP further wrote that "[t]he vast majority of people who escape federal income taxes still pay other taxes, including federal payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare, and excise taxes on gasoline, aviation, alcohol and cigarettes. Many also pay state or local taxes on sales, income and property."
http://mediamatters.org/...
I've noticed that everyone from Hannity to Hatch has been pushing this 51% of households don't pay any taxes meme. Since when did the GOP want to see more Americans to pay taxes?
If this is their greatest mission, to raise taxes, then why don't they start with the wealthy? If this has always been their position, that we need to raise taxes, then the debt ceiling issue should have been settled weeks ago.