Who are the 47%? And the irony might be remarkable.

(Dan here…Afferent Input started to write for Angry Bear but was subsequently uprooted with family to live and thrive in Germany for a few years, and gave up blogging.  He and a now bigger family have moved back to the States, so may begin to blog again.  Welcome back AI! )

by Afferent Input

Romney claims that that the 47% of the people that don’t pay federal income tax are a lost cause. They are simply moochers and looters that “are dependent upon 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.” They’re part of the problem, in his mind, and there is nothing he can do to help them because they refuse to help themselves.

But as Mark Thoma shows, the vast majority of people that don’t pay federal income tax (which is only just a part of federal taxes) are either students or the elderly. The elderly, in particular, do not pay income or payroll taxes on the meager payout of Social Security.

This from the Hamilton Project:

clip_image001

The irony of this, though, is that older Americans are the group most likely to vote for Republicans! Here are exit poll data from the 2010 election cycle:

clip_image003

Will Romney’s attempt to characterize older folks as parasites turn them off of the GOP? I doubt it, but it’s a funny way to do outreach.