I've seen clips of Bachman railing about the "entitlement mentality" of the people who are not paying any federal income tax. Does she know what the "loopholes" are that provide those breaks? Does her base know she is talking about them?
According the the August 19th Wall Street Journal, the largest reason for zero federal tax liability is the standard exemption for dependents. This represents 50% of those with no tax liability. I have a sneaking suspicion that families with a lot of children are more likely to be religious conservatives. It is nice to learn that their proposals would change the tax code to encourage smaller families, but I'm not sure they know this.
The 2nd largest group with no tax liability (22%) is caused by the additional standard deduction for seniors. I'm sure low income GOP seniors are also eager to start paying taxes so that the most wealthy can keep low rates.
I suspect most of Bachman's supporters believe the problem is caused by "exclusion of cash transfer payments" and are eager for the GOP to make this budget balancing change. Unfortunately this is only affects only 3% of the taxpayers who pay no federal income tax and the amounts involved are un-noticeable in relationship to the deficit.
Do Democrats have the sense to point out what it takes to start getting revenue from most of those who not paying federal income tax? Does the religious base really want a president whose campaign rhetoric points to increased taxes on large families?
We will see......