Scrolling through the excellent TaxProf Blog reminded me of a fundamental dynamic in American politics. A large percentage of voters pay no federal income taxes: 47% Will Pay $0 Income Tax in 2009.
But that doesn’t tell the full story. For whom do these non-tax paying voters vote? There will be no shock here. The lower the income, the more likely the person voted for Obama. And at the lowest tax brackets, these voters not only pay no taxes, they likely receive checks from the federal government. (Interestingly, at the highest income level Obama garnered a higher percentage of voters by a small margin, perhaps because people who already have made their fortunes are not as worried by marginal tax rates.)
This chart linked by TaxProf Blog shows the dynamic:
We are witnessing an era where a near majority of voters have no incentive to hold down federal income taxes, and every incentive to increase federal spending on social programs and hand outs. Do not underestimate this dynamic; it is the bread and butter of the Democratic policy prescriptions and agenda.
A tyranny of those who pay no taxes.
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"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.
Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage."
If that analysis is true then we are witnessing the end of our Representative Democracy. Are the comparisons of this administration to the unseemly pasts of Europe and Asia more of a pointing out the obvious than hyperbole ?
This chart is the most frightening thing I've seen all day. And both my cat and dog puked today.
As our highly esteemed [this I mean sincerely] law professor knows far better than I do, part of the reason we were established as a Democratic REPUBLIC was to place us under the rule of law and circumvent mob rule.
What is so terrifying, especially with the early 1900 amendment allowing "mob rule" [majority vote] to elect the US Senate instead of Senators being appointed by each State's Legislative body (thereby making them much more directly accountable on an ongoing basis to the ALL of a State's populous via their district's elected State Legislators), is that we are indeed standing oh-so-near the dangerous precipice of mob rule, the tax free tyranny…
Honestly, what can you do? Vote them out? Almost sounds like a lost cause? No matter the majority of the vote, the other side will scream until it gets it way regardless of the consequences. All the Al Frankens out there will get their mystery votes legalized because the "majority" is afraid of the chaos that might ensue if they don't.
As long as the public dole continues regardless of the economics, the left will behave. As soon as the checks stop showing up in the mailboxes, the populace will scream, riot, etc., and the government will do something to give in to their chaos. No prosecutions will occur and the rule of law is dead. It's been dead since the Long Hot Summer. For some lame reason whenever people riot, you don't prosecute the mob action because….why?
And by the way, I've been un-employed for 22 weeks with no prospects on the horizon. There is no work out there for me and whatever I apply for, I'm either over or under-qualified for. And yes, I've applied for everything from what I can do to short order cook offshore. No calls.
The only way to stop the freefall is to sway the public and as long as the media is dominated by the left, it will never happen.