Dear Repugs: Quick economics lesson for ya --

[Brigid]

You gripe that the bottom 51% of wage earners don't pay any income taxes. At least, that's what Michael Steele was saying, and I've heard it before. Guess why? It couldn't be anything to do with the fact that wages have been stagnant for the past 30 years, now would it?

[N7Shepard]

1. They might have a legit gripe about this if the rich were

actually taxed social security on their top income and if capital gains were subject to SS/medicare and weren't given a lower rate.

[dkf]

2. Actually it's because of the Bush tax cuts which include increases in the child tax credit.

Get rid of the Bush cuts and that number will go down.

In fact if your child tax credit exceeds the taxes paid you are eligible for the additional child tax credit which will actually pay you extra for your children.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/additional-child-tax-credit.asp

What Does Additional Child Tax Credit Mean?
A refundable credit that can be claimed by taxpayers who are ineligible to claim the full non-refundable child tax credit, because it exceeds their total tax liability. The additional child tax credit was created to reimburse taxpayers for the non-refundable portion of their child tax credit.

[Johnny Harpo]

3. Could It Be That So many Are Un-Employed?...n/t