The “refundable portion” of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) payments hit a record $56,189,578,000 in 2012, the latest year for which the Internal Revenue Service has made data available. A total of $64,128,627,000 in Earned Income Tax Credits was claimed in 2012. Of that, $56,189,578,000 was the “refundable portion”—paid out if the Treasury in excess of the net taxes the recipient owed. That means that only $7,939,049,000—or 12.4 percent—of the total Earned Income Tax Credit amount in 2012 was used for a tax reduction. […] “The EITC expansion is garnering some Republican support, but I think that is a big...