Adding to what Ben just wrote about taxes — it’s worth noting that while 43 percent of Americans pay no income tax, most of those non-payers do contribute to the federal government through payroll taxes (which are sometimes thought of as Social Security taxes but really go to the overall federal treasury). According to the Tax Policy Center, only 14 percent of Americans pay neither income taxes nor payroll taxes, and the majority of those people are elderly. Having everyone put “skin in the game,” as Jindal puts it, would fall most heavily on elderly people and non-elderly people making less than $20,000.
