The sun beams down on a brand new day 

No more welfare tax to pay 

Unsightly slums gone up in flashing light 

Jobless millions whisked away 

At last we have more room to play 

All systems go to kill the poor tonight

While nearly everyone takes advantage of the more than $1 trillion in tax preferences that litter the tax code, the highest income households do best—by far—even though they are still likely paying some tax after taking those deductions and exclusions.

…by most other measures, high-income households benefit far more from tax expenditures than those at the bottom. On average, the lowest earners save enough in taxes to buy gas for three months. The highest? They save almost enough to buy three $500,000 Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren Roadsters (one for workdays, one for weekends, and one for truly special occasions such as tax day).

The issue of the percentage of households who pay no taxes will undoubtedly continue to play a role in the histrionics currently en vogue with the current crop of GOP hopefuls regardless of the misleading connotations.  It seems that economic principles, like science, are a bit confusing and threatening to the Tea Party and their champions in the current crop of GOP presidential contenders. The Tea Party ideology of no taxes, no science, no education in economic theory (or anything that smacks of bad-magic or voodoo) where stupidity and obedience are enforced rules seems much more akin to the Khmer Rouge era of Cambodia than anything remotely related to colonial America.