paying no income tax
We are getting close to the point, if we aren't there already, where the number of voters who basically pay little or no income taxes will outnumber the ones who do pay the taxes. I think we can see where that's going to end up.
Amazing...you don't seem to grasp what it would signify if a majority of people pay little or no taxes.
People who pay no income taxes fall into two categories: The very wealthy who can buy loopholes and tax shelters and favored treatment from legislators; and those who don't earn enough to pay taxes.
If the trend toward concentration of wealth and declining real wages continues, then yes, we just might see the day when a majority of people don't pay taxes, because they don't earn enough to pay taxes.
I suppose there are two possible responses, one smart, the other stupid, and Republicans are intent on pursuing the stupid course.
The smart response is to ensure that prosperity is spread widely enough so that everyone has a stake in fair taxation and balanced budgets and the general fiscal health of the United States.
The stupid course--the Republican course--is to relegate as many people as possible to the economic trashbin, and accelerate the transfer of wealth to the top 1%, and to try and protect their position with sweetheart tax deals and corporate welfare.
You must realize that that can't last forever, and when the dam breaks, the very wealthy might consider themselves lucky if the only consequence is crushing taxation. History is full of examples of aristocrats who pushed too far and eventually faced the wrath of the people. Come to think of it, that's how America got its start.
"Off wit' their heads!" is a primally American sentiment. Real Americans don't cotton to economic royalists.