Pjstaff wrote..

100 years ago it was 100%.

/thread

I'm wondering what the hell happened in the mid 80's that started the ball rolling.

" And you would get the benefit(s) for which you qualified. No different than anyone else."

But ALL benefits are delusional and a Ponzi that cannot be sustained.

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To clarify, does this mean that if you paid in during the year, and you get a refund, you are in the didn't pay category?

A refund does not mean you paid no net taxes. It just means you paid more than you owed. Example: at the end of the year, your with-holding is $15,000. You do your taxes and account for credits/deduction, and it shows your taxes due at 14,000. You get a refund of $1,000. But you STILL paid $14,000 in taxes, even though you get a refund.

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But ALL benefits are delusional and a Ponzi that cannot be sustained.

Yes, but in order to qualify for the SS and Medicare ponzi benefits one must have contributed via the payroll tax for at least the minimum specified requirement. That's not so of all the other costly government-provided benefits and services. One can receive very costly social services and welfare benefits without ever contributing one thin dime in federal income tax. 51% pay no federal income tax whatsoever. 30% actually get more money from the government than they pay in federal income tax via refundable tax credits PLUS all the benefits and services that are heavily skewed to those who contribute the least.

No, get rid of the Earned Income Credit & that will substantially lower the number.

Bringit - My point was whether or not you pay taxes you still receive a substantial number of benefits. Streets, police, fire, schools, etc. Each and every one of us excepting the Unibomber types in a shed in Montana draw a great number of benefits. When you look at this plus the handouts to the FSA it is inconceivable to think we can keep the gov going with only half paying taxes.

The whole system is broken and we need to start over.

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Streets, police, fire, schools, etc.

Maybe you picked a set of poor examples since all of those items are paid by everybody regardless of income through property taxes with the exception of gas tax for the streets?