Original Post
October 12, 2011
by Ashely Portero
In response to the 99 percent movement, which has inspired the Occupy Wall Street protesters and their fellow picketers across the country, a group of right-wing bloggers have come together to issue their criticism of the protesters via a new Tumblr blog called "We are the 53 percent."
The blog, kicked off by conservative filmmaker Mike Wilson and conservative blogger Erick Erickson of RedState.org, aims to be representative of the 53 percent of Americans who pay more in federal income taxes than they receive back in deductions or credits. The figure is based on a report from the non-partisan Tax Policy Center that said 47 percent of Americans did not pay federal income taxes in 2009, an unusually high percentage due to the fall in incomes resulting from the Great Recession.
The Americans who do not pay income taxes are those who are either so poor that they are exempt, or those who are the beneficiaries of enough tax breaks and deductions to cancel out their income tax payments.
"53 Percent" Ignores Those Who Pay State, County, City and Payroll Taxes
The blog, however, does not emphasize the fact that the 53 percent figure only applies to federal income taxes. The introduction to the blog, clearly written in a way to mock the hippies and degenerates its creators believe are representative of the 99 percent movement, states: "So if you're like, totally gonna spread the word about being one of the 53 percent of people who actually, like, pay taxes in America and don't just, like, hang out protesting stuff all day ... like, here's the hashtaggy thingy," followed by the #iamthe53 used on Twitter.
The creators of the blog either do not understand taxation, or they simply do not care. Even the 47 percent of Americans who did not pay federal income taxes in 2009 still paid state, local and payroll taxes -- so, saying that only 53 percent of people paid taxes that year is a lie. Even the poorest Americans, those who make an average of $12,500 a year, still pay about 16 percent of their small earnings in taxes, according to Citizens for Tax Justice.
Moreover, data from the Institution on Taxation and Economic Policy indicates that in every state except for Vermont, the poor pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than the wealthy. In Alabama, families making less than $13,000 a year pay almost 11 percent of their income in state and local taxes, compared with less than 4 percent for those who make $229,000 or more.
At the end of the day, yes -- the wealthiest Americans still actually pay more. But, $1,430 -- the average amount that the poorest Alabama citizens pay in annual state and local taxes -- means a lot more to someone making less than $13,000 than it does to the 4 percent of annual income that the highest earning citizens lose to state and local taxes.
The "We are the 53 percent" blog seems to be full of comments made by people who are part of the very 47 percent of Americans that the blog basically classifies as parasites. Many of the contributors appear to be students, the unemployed or the under-employed, who still end their stories by declaring "I am the 53 percent" even though, by their logic, they are not, if they were also exempted from federal income taxes due to their income bracket.
"53 Percenters" Receive No Federal Subsidies ... Assuming They Don't Drive
The contributors often boast about how they have worked themselves to the bone, often without vacations or benefits, but still have never turned to government social programs, implying that the kind of people who support the 99 percent movement simply want a free ride.
It would be interesting to see how many of those people have received unemployment insurance, Pell Grants, home-mortgage-interest deductions or any of the other government programs that many people have relied on as stepping stones to get to the state of financial independence the "53 percent" celebrate.
What they don't seem to understand is that the 99 percent movement is demanding those same things -- namely, the ability to receive an affordable education, affordable health care and a livable wage -- in short, all of the things that allow Americans to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" (whether all of the protesters' demands are actually possible right now is another story).
These days, it is difficult for many low-income and middle-class Americans to obtain those basic services, especially with a national unemployment rate that doesn't seem to be budging.
The 99 percent movement is asking for reforms not only on Wall Street, but in the federal government as well, so that, once again, the U.S. will be a nation that is productive, employed and not overwhelmed with growing social tensions due to rapidly widening income-inequality rates. And then, maybe all of us -- even the righteous 53 percenters -- will be able to take a vacation once a while.