We've been writing (here and here) about the increasing numbers of Americans who pay no federal taxes. The latest data point comes in an Associated Press article that the Washington Examiner notices.
It begins, "Tax Day is a dreaded deadline for millions, but for nearly half of U.S. households it's simply somebody else's problem. About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability."
Comments the Examiner's Mark Hemingway, "half the population having no financial stake in how this country is governed is not a good thing."
The Tax Policy Center, a joint effort of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, which are both center-left, has some more details on "who pays no income tax."