Millionaires Are Not Paying Taxes

September 17, 2012 we heard of a video via Mother Jones of Romney at a Florida fundraiser in May saying “There are 47% of the people who will vote for the President no matter what. All right there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it - That, that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. And I mean the president starts off with 48, 49, he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. 47% of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn’t connect so he’ll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. And so my job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is to convince the 5-10% in the center that are independents. And because they voted for him, they don’t want to be told that they were wrong, that he’s a bad guy. Those people that we have to get, they want to believe they did the right thing but he just wasn’t up to the task. They love the phrase that he’s over his head.” In a quick California press conference Romney said “I understand that there’s been a video that’s been on the internet. Whoever has released the snip-its would, I’d certainly appreciate it if they would release the whole tape now so we can see all of it…it’s not eloquently stated, let me put it that way, I’m speaking off the cuff in response to a question and I’m sure I could state it more clearly in a more effective way then I did in a setting like that.” Romney didn’t apologize for his words.

A summary of an article in USA Today said: According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center in Washington, DC, 46% of tax filers will owe no federal income tax this year. Those making $75,000-$100,000 a year are the fastest-growing share of people who don't pay federal income taxes. In recent years, (via tax cuts and tax breaks) the tax code has exploded with more ways for Americans to be forgiven part of their income tax burden, so much that more Americans seem to avoid paying taxes at all. A Detroit Free Press analysis showed: as of 2009, the total number of tax returns increased slightly over 2006 but the number of taxable returns actually fell by more than 10 million. Nontaxable returns from people with income between $75,000 and $100,000 went from 4,025 in 1996 to 476,624 in 2009 an increase of almost 12,000% and more than 20,000 filers making more than $200,000 a year owed no income tax - this included 1,470 filers who had adjusted gross incomes of more than $1 million; 6 of which made about $200 million each.