State by State % of tax filers with zero federal income tax

[mainejeff]

All the po' folk I saw down in Tennessee were WHITE. They were running food stamps through the registers at Wal-Mart like they were going out of style!

That's because they got on the loudspeaker and told all the blacks to leave the Walmart.

Nope.....don't believe that was the case, Mr. African American HATER.

[AZGrizFan]

That's because they got on the loudspeaker and told all the blacks to leave the Walmart.

Nope.....don't believe that was the case, Mr. African American HATER.

Hey, it's happened before...

[Baldy]

Only to the people who don't have the intelligence, desire, or testicular fortitude to work for it.

And working hard doesn't necessarily equal success, Baldy. The myth of the American Dream is part of the utopic conservatism we were getting at in another thread.

Hard work helps, but you need a lot of breaks and a level playing field.

To paraphrase Ben Franklin (I think).
Equal opportunity does not guarantee equal results.

There is nothing utopic about the American Dream...people live it everyday.

[YoUDeeMan]

All the po' folk I saw down in Tennessee were WHITE. They were running food stamps through the registers at Wal-Mart like they were going out of style!

That's because they got on the loudspeaker and told all the blacks to leave the Walmart.

PC police with riot gear are coming to your house to take you away...but that was funny!

[Grizalltheway]

All the po' folk I saw down in Tennessee were WHITE. They were running food stamps through the registers at Wal-Mart like they were going out of style!

That's because they got on the loudspeaker and told all the blacks to leave the Walmart.

Z knocks one out of the park!

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

Only to the people who don't have the intelligence, desire, or testicular fortitude to work for it.

And working hard doesn't necessarily equal success, Baldy. The myth of the American Dream is part of the utopic conservatism we were getting at in another thread.

Hard work helps, but you need a lot of breaks and a level playing field.

I agree the playing field needs to be leveled so white people have a chance in the future instead of always having to play catch up.

[YoUDeeMan]

I want to add one more thing... since this issue is largely responsible for forming my liberal political beliefs and I remember the exact moment it occured.

I grew up in Alabama and went to private schools from preschool on. Most families in Alabama that can afford to send their children to private school do so. I didn't pay it much attention until around 8th or 9th grade when I started to notice that my school was overwhelmingly white... and that all the schools I had ever attended were founded, coincidentally , the same time of Brown vs. Board and the Civil Rights Act. The public schools I would have attended if I were not as fortunate as I was were underfunded shitholes. I became aware of the new Southern tradition of sending your kids to disproportionately white private schools and forgetting about (or just not caring) about disproportionately minority public schools. My parents weren't racist and I don't believe most people in the South were racist... but, I realized that if I were born with a different color skin or in a different income bracket my chances of success were MUCH smaller. I saw the need for a leveling of the playing field. If I ever come to the conclusion that the playing field has been leveled my political beliefs may start to change... but, for now... I'm convinced of the need.

Good grief.

jellybean, you need some serious help.

First of all, your parents were racist...get over it. They didn't want to send you to school with the blacks. Pretty simple to figure that one out.

Secondly, there will NEVER be a level playing field. Not ever. If there were, then African American women would not earn more than their white counterparts (by the way, get crackin' on resolving that specific problem asap, will ya'?). You are pissing in the wind.

One day in school, you found out that you weren’t able to compete with the other kids in your school and you blamed it on their wealth…they had more stuff than you, therefore they had all the advantages. Now you are hell bent on taking money away from some folks and giving it to others in a doomed effort to achieve some sort of equality for the world. Mediocrity for everyone…woo-hoo!

[∞∞∞]

I agree the playing field needs to be leveled so white people have a chance in the future instead of always having to play catch up.

???

I don't know about that man; I keep hearing this theory but I can't say I believe it. I have absolutely no evidence to backup what I'm about to say, but from personal observations at my job (a government job nontheless), the people being paid well are mostly white (I'd guesstimate 65%). And the people being paid REALLY well (ie, the bosses) are mostly white (I'd guesstimate 90%). Hell, even the lower paid employees like me are mostly white.

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

I agree the playing field needs to be leveled so white people have a chance in the future instead of always having to play catch up.

???

I don't know about that man; I keep hearing this theory but I can't say I believe it. I have absolutely no evidence to backup what I'm about to say, but from personal observations at my job (a government job nontheless), the people being paid well are mostly white (I'd guesstimate 65%). And the people being paid REALLY well (ie, the bosses) are mostly white (I'd guesstimate 90%). Hell, even the lower paid employees like me are mostly white.

Blacks are 13% of the population I would expect them to work out very well in your %'s since there are far fewer of them.

I bet there are a higher % of whites that make less than they do as well simply because there are more of them.

Regardless minorities have it way better off than white people when it comes to getting money, going to school and getting jobs handed to them because they are a minority.

[mainejeff]

Regardless minorities have it way better off than white people when it comes to getting money, going to school and getting jobs handed to them because they are a minority.

Fvckin whiny ass CONKS..........

[Ibanez]

Only Texas, Georgia, and Florida fall into the top 10 most populous states (from Wiki) and Florida, SC, Alabama, and Mississippi are in the top 10 states with the highest unemployment rates, therefore requiring higher unemployment benefits.

http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What's your point?

This was for 2008, to begin with.

Second, it is funny that the solidly Republican South has the highest percentage of freeloaders in the country.

How many of those people are impoverished? How many are on unemployment?

[Ibanez]

At some point these folks need to man up, grow a pair, and take responsibility for their OWN lives.

Of course they do... but, they need a more level playing field. It's much more difficult to come out of poverty than you want to believe. A person that grows up in poverty is MUCH more likely to live their entire life in poverty than someone who grows up in a middle class or upper class family. Let's be honest... you are normally a bit of a fuckup to go from upper middle class or upper class to poverty. And "manning up", "growing a pair", and "taking responsibility" isn't enough. The American Dream is a myth.

And.. just because we are so far removed from slavery and Jim Crow doesn't mean institutional racism doesn't exist. I'm sure people back in the 60's were saying "Slaves were freed 100 years ago!! Man up, grow a pair, and take responsibility!! Separate but EQUAL!!! The playing field is level!!!"

Black boys and girls have access to school just like white boys and girls. I believe education is the way to get yourself out of this bullhsit slave mentaility. There are parents out there, white and black, that pass on thier laziness. I bet the blacks that fought hard for Civil Rights are rolling in thier fucking graves/rockers/hospital beds right now. All the oppurtunites they fought for, people don't care about. It's all about making money through drugs. What the hell am I ranting about?

[Ibanez]

Only to the people who don't have the intelligence, desire, or testicular fortitude to work for it.

And working hard doesn't necessarily equal success, Baldy. The myth of the American Dream is part of the utopic conservatism we were getting at in another thread.

Hard work helps, but you need a lot of breaks and a level playing field.

The playing field will never be level, Affirmative Action has assured us that much.

[Ibanez]

All the po' folk I saw down in Tennessee were WHITE. They were running food stamps through the registers at Wal-Mart like they were going out of style!

That's because they got on the loudspeaker and told all the blacks to leave the Walmart.

That occured in the Fertile Crescent, the all powerful, loving and anti racists North.

[UCABEAR]

We're #3! Wooohooo!

I wonder if they break that down by region of the state. Kind of difficult to file taxes in the delta when your home looks like Steve Martin's shack in the movie "The Jerk" but then again most of the population is in Little Rock so it would be interesting to see how taxes were filed there also. Does it have a region breakdown?

Oh...a wise man once said, "the poor you wil always have with you"...so I don't expect EVERYONE to file taxes...but if you don't fle taxes, do you get a refund? Serious question because I've always worked, even after gettingl laid off I found something, so I've always paid taxes and filed them. Just kind of sad to see that number 3 by the state name.

[OL FU]

First a statement then a history lesson.

Erroneous logic and over simplified cause and effect scenarios are dangerous things The start of this thread is a good example.

History,

1. Other than possibly 20 years of homesteading in the plains, the south has been the poorest georgraphic area in the country since the civil war. There were lots of causes many of which could be leveled solely at southerners but the starting point was the severe lack of capital in the south when the war ended. Capital levels that did not return for many, many years.
2. Following the reconstruction, the south was controlled for 100 years by democrats and the last 50 years of such control was by segregationist NEW DEAL democrats.
3. We have already discussed this but the federal government did the south the biggest favor it never wanted by legislating the end of segregation in the south and providing minorities the opportunity to participate in the market place. Unfortunately during the same decade, with the Great Society and the creation of welfare dependancy, the federal government took away the incentive of poor whites and blacks in the south to participate fully in the marketplace. While different in structure than the original welfare programs, a combination of EIC tax credits, food stamps and housing vouchers continue that dependancy.
4. It has only been the last 30 years that the south has started to catch up economically. During the last 30 years, the republican party has controlled the south. So if you are going to blame political parties for the problem, then give credit where credit is due.

Now take from that what you will. I don't believe the republicans get any more credit for the successes of the last 30 years than the democrats do the blame for the previous 100. Such over simplified cause and effect relationships are stupid.

Generally the south has caused its own problems with segregation and clinging to an agrarian economy. But the federal government has assisted greatly by creating a dependant class. But to make the over simplified statement that the south is poor because it is republican is simply ridiculous. As I said before if you don't like it, tell your congressman to end the structural welfare programs that disincentivize people to help themselves. As I have said many times, the government should help people that need help but programs should be designed to wean people off the tit, not plant them there permanantly.

[OL FU]

Blacks in every part of the country sit squarely on the lower income levels. There are many reasons and you have mentioned a few but add in the welfare culture created in the 60s and 70s continuing today and then you probably have them all.

Not entirely true. According to census data... Blacks 25+ are getting very close to equaling white men in average earned income annually. Black women 25+ actually surpass white women in average earned income.
.

I hope you are correct, but I would like to see those numbers. I have no trouble believing the gap is closing. And while this is anecdotal, from my travels around this country, I have a hard time believing they are equal or close to it. Poverty is certainly not only a black problem, but the disparity in economic conditions among the races still appears to be wide. Additionally, are the income numbers based on per capita, or people actually working.

[Ibanez]

Jon, did you even READ the article?

Following Mississippi, the 10 states with the highest percentage of tax returns filed resulting in zero or negative income tax liability are Georgia (41 percent), Arkansas (41 percent), New Mexico (40 percent), Alabama (40 percent), South Carolina (40 percent), Louisiana (39 percent), Texas (39 percent), Florida (39 percent) and Idaho (39 percent).
These states have among the lowest median family incomes in the country (ranging from $60,268 in Georgia to $46,668 in Mississippi) and nine out of the 10 are located in the South and Southwest.

In terms of absolute numbers, the most populated states have the most nonpayers: More than 6 million tax-filing Californians (37 percent of the 16.4 million tax returns filed) paid no federal income taxes in 2008.

I thought, as a liberal, you were empathetic to the cause of the poor. You're pissed b/c the poorest states aren't paying?! My god man! And to prove Tom's point form earlier

http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/26337.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[GSUhooligan]

When I worked summers in high school and in college I would be taxed, but would file and get everything back since I didn't make over 5K (or whatever that threshold is). Therefore I had 0 federal income tax. I'm sure a chunk of that figure comes from young and semi-retired workers.

[kalm]

It's a guaranteed, certifiable fact that despite my fortunate upbringing, Kalm is 100% self reliant and works harder than everyone else too. I guess I'll just have to wait awhile longer for that Daniel Boone complex to set in.

[AshevilleApp]

This was for 2008, to begin with.

Second, it is funny that the solidly Republican South has the highest percentage of freeloaders in the country.

Doesn't surprise me.

If nothing else, you are consistent.

[AZGrizFan]

I agree the playing field needs to be leveled so white people have a chance in the future instead of always having to play catch up.

???

I don't know about that man; I keep hearing this theory but I can't say I believe it. I have absolutely no evidence to backup what I'm about to say, but from personal observations at my job (a government job nontheless), the people being paid well are mostly white (I'd guesstimate 65%). And the people being paid REALLY well (ie, the bosses) are mostly white (I'd guesstimate 90%). Hell, even the lower paid employees like me are mostly white.

Well, that's because you live in Canada, dummy.

[Pwns]

The states with the highest percentage of republican votes in the 2008 election:

1. Oklahoma (#17)
2. Wyoming (#46)
3. Utah (#13)
4. Idaho (#10)
5. Alabama (#5)
6. Alaska (#50)


Only one of the southern states is in the top of this list. The south is always portrayed as a republican stronghold but only one of them is among the reddest of the red. A good many of the poor in the south vote donk anyways.