47% Won't Pay Any Income Tax This Year

There is something very, very wrong with this:

Most people think they pay too much to Uncle Sam, but for some people it simply is not true.

In 2009, roughly 47% of households, or 71 million, will not owe any federal income tax, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

Some in that group will even get additional money from the government because they qualify for refundable tax breaks.

The ranks of those whose major federal tax burdens net out at zero -- or less -- is on the rise. The center's original 2009 estimate was 38%. That was before enactment in February of the $787 billion economic recovery package, which included a host of new or expanded tax breaks.

The issue doesn't get a lot of attention even as lawmakers debate how to pay for policy initiatives like health reform, whether to extend the Bush tax cuts and how to reduce the deficit.

The vast majority of households making up to $30,000 fall into the category, as do nearly half of all households making between $30,000 and $40,000.

As you move up the income scale the percentages drop.

Nearly 22% of those making between $50,000 and $75,000 end up with no federal income tax liability or negative liability as do 9% of households with incomes between $75,000 and $100,000.

Now you know why it is so difficult to get people's attention when it comes to tax rates. If you're paying nothing, what do you care if people richer than you have to pay more?

Although many of these people will pay payroll taxes to support Medicare and Social Security, they are not contributing to most of the common expenses of the country, including national defense and infrastructure requirements. Every American should have a stake in supporting those things and every American should be paying SOMETHING in income tax.

When nearly half of Americans have no stake in the income tax system you get to the point when they'll be able to vote down anything or anyone suggesting they take on part of the burden. A collapse of the system is inevitable.

This is why the concept of a flat tax is attractive to me, if for no other reason than to ensure that everyone is a stakeholder in financing this government, and everyone will then be more interested in what the lawmakers are trying to do with their money.