http://knowmore.washingtonpost.com/2015/01/14/romneys-47-percent-are-now-down-to-40-percent/
Good news for Romney: The ’47 percent,’ a group of people that he once said would never vote for him, is shrinking fast.
In case you’ve forgotten, the 47 percent was the approximate fraction of households that paid no federal income tax in 2009. “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives,” Romney said in video footage that was leaked in 2012.
As Wonkblog’s Max Ehrenfreund points out, the economic recovery in the U.S. is lifting more people out of this category. The Tax Policy Center projects that the fraction of households that paid no federal income tax will fall to 40 percent this year and continue to decline in the future.
This is a good sign for the economy, but it’s not particularly revealing. There are many reasons why today’s ’40 percenters’ may not be paying taxes. The group includes students, retirees, the disabled, those out of work, and those who work and make very little.
