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It may have made for poor politics, but I admired Tom Delay's courage to state that a child tax credit to people that don't pay taxes in the first place is akin to a welfare program. That was blunt honesty, and I hardly find it worth stuffing a sock into.

The GOP has supported the EITC before with the notion that it keeps people just off welfare from giving up and returning to welfare. When you consider payroll taxes (EITC doesn't cover 100% of payroll tax liability) and state sales taxes, these voters do have tax burdens. This tax cut is just an extension of this.

In fact, it's the most unexplainable thing in politics that poor states like the Dakotas and the South support Republicans ("the party of the rich" as we're called) for president while places like New York-- which sends more tax dollars away than they get back than any other state-- votes Democrat (as do other high income-- and high-income tax states).

Bush has used Keynesian arguments plenty of times for his tax cuts. The last time rebates were sent out in 2001, only 20% were actually spent on consumption because the low income people who would actually spend all of their checks, didn't get those rebate checks. If Bush believes Keynes' notion that consumption can give a short-term stimulus to the economy, then he should give money to lower income voters.

I admired Tom Delay's courage to state that a child tax credit to people that don't pay taxes in the first place is akin to a welfare program.

I agree, since it is the truth, the problem is, is that there is a way to say it, a way to do things, and a way to get more of what you want when you leverage. He should have said something to the effect he would consider it, and would have done it, but to many people didn't want the added cost in the overall bill.(This is actually true, but not on the house side, it was the senate side that actually took this out) This way you knock some of the moderate republicans for not supporting a bigger tax cut and you hit democrats.

He did say he would consider it, if it was part of another bigger tax cut, this was wise, and he could have stuck with that, that if the democrats want it, then they will insert it into another tax cut bill. Make it another big tax cut, but make this the centerpiece, then hammer away at democrats for being cruel to the children. Its called politics.