If this estimate is accurate......

....we're toast.

High earning households pay growing share of taxes. John D. McKinnon, WSJ.com

And a new congressional study concludes that the percentage of U.S. households owing no federal income tax climbed to 51% for 2009.

I've long said that once this number gets to 50% +1 it's all over. America will have learned that they can vote themselves whatever they want from the public trust at the expense of others. When a majority are paying no taxes it does not behoove them to vote against candidates who promise them more of the same. i.e. class warfare.

So any time you hear a politician blathering on about someone paying their "fair share" remember that 51% number. That's 51% of people who are not paying their "fair share" while someone else pays it for them.

Here's the scary bit: Right now we're being assured that the "rich" can handle a bigger load, with "rich" being defined as a household earning more than $250,000 per year. Eventually, as the size of government keeps growing while wealth in America diminishes, the definition of "rich" is going to migrate down to where many progressives believe to to be anyway....somewhere around %60,000 per year and higher.

I've asked this question before: How much is "enough"?

The answer? More.