Moneybox: 99 Percenters, Meet the 53 Percenters

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Moneybox 99 Percenters, Meet the 53 Percenters In response to Occupy Wall Street, some conservatives are blasting the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal taxes. Do they have a point? By Annie Lowrey Posted Tuesday, Oct 11, 2011, at 10:45 PM ET The slogan doesn't exactly sing: "We are the 53 percent!" But this new campaign, a conservative answer to Occupy Wall Street, has some verve. The 53 Percenters are responding to We Are the 99 Percent, an inequality-focused online Tumblr designed to shame—or at least call out—the top 1 percent of earners who are taking bigger and bigger pieces of the pie. The 53 percent say everyone should stop moaning, quit pointing fingers at Wall Street, and pay their damn taxes. (The name refers to the fact that only 53 percent of households pay federal income tax these days.) The brainchild of Erick Erickson of RedState.org, the 53 Tumblr features comments like: "I don't blame Wall Street. Suck it up you whiners. I am the 53 percent subsidizing you so you can hang out on Wall Street and complain." (That's from Erickson's inaugural post, by the way.) Rhetorical fervor aside, the 53 Percent campaign does raise an interesting question: What is going on with that other 47 percent? Why are so few people paying income taxes? For the answer to that question, we turn to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, which released a study on the subject this July. (The TPC also put out the initial report with the 53 percent number.) The short answer is: deductions and poverty. About half of households within that 47 percent do not end up paying federal income tax because they qualify for enough breaks to cancel their ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Mitt Romney's Astonishingly Liberal Answers During the GOP Debate Remembering Frank Kameny, the Man Who Did More To Make Life Better for Gay Americans Than Anyone Why Do Italians Put Up With Silvio Berlusconi?	Advertisement
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