[VeniVidiVici]

Thanks to all who replied. I just don't know why the EITC isn't brought up in debate over "who should get tax rebates/cuts" more often. Another poster's reply that the left will just say we want to take it away if we are using that as an argument certainly makes sense, and is the only reason I can guess that the Republicans don't bring it up.

For those of you that don't know, Reagan implemented the EITC and Clinton doubled it.

I must apologize for the misspellings and typos of my initial post. It was my first thread (several replies to existing threads though) and I guess I still have to learn the ropes. I did do the draft in a text file and it looked ok in my browser (even the link)!

3catsanadog, the payroll taxes are the taxes deducted from you paycheck to include fed/state/ss/medicare. Of course people in the lower brackets get most if not all of the fed/state back but not ss/medicare. So in the context of the left's argument that the poor still pay payroll tax, I assume they are referring to ss/medicare.

[valkyrieanne]

Why don't Republicans bring up the EITC? For one thing, human nature - when you do something so fundamentally opposed to your principles, it's embarrassing to admit you did it. For another, the EITC is a way to surreptitiously slip welfare benefits in the back door while ostensibly sweeping them out the front. It lets you make points with mushy-middle voters while changing nothing substantial. Finally, Republicans don't bring up the EITC these days because it's devastating to the argument for school vouchers. Everywhere you turn around, someone is claiming "let's let the parents keep their tax money." Guess what - they *don't pay taxes to start with.* The Emperor has no clothes in this argument.