Democrats' Child 'Tax Credit' Really a Form of Welfare That Disincentivizes Work
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia was right when he opposed the child tax credit in its proposed form under Build Back Better, because it’s really a type of welfare with no work requirement.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board noted Sunday that Democrats are in “recrimination mode” after Manchin said last week he could not support Build Back Better as it now stands.
The White House pointed to the proposed extension of the child tax credit to show how heartless Manchin is.
“Maybe Senator Manchin can explain to the millions of children who have been lifted out of poverty, in part due to the child tax credit, why he wants to end a program that is helping achieve this milestone — we cannot,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
In the American Rescue Plan passed in March, Democrats expanded the child tax credit to $3,600 for children under age 6 and $3,000 for children ages 6 through 17 for one year, CNBC reported.
The federal government has been putting up to $300 payments into parents’ bank accounts per month, per kid. The last of those checks went out on Dec. 15, according to CNBC.
Build Back Better would extend this benefit for one more year, but Democrats only did that to lower the price tag to try to bring Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona on board.
Their true intention is to make the program permanent. We know this because the White House had wanted the program to go through at least 2025.
There is no work requirement to receive the tax credit. You have no income, yet you get a tax credit from the government.
IT HAPPENED. Bill was able to thank the one and only @SpeakerPelosi for getting BBB out of the House and for her work prioritizing care in #BuildBackBetter. For the Children, as she always says! pic.twitter.com/QgrEGPSoc1
— Jess Morales Rocketto (@JessLivMo) December 14, 2021
The University of Chicago estimated that continuing the enhanced benefit would lead to 1.5 million workers exiting the labor force altogether.
Under the 2017 Trump tax cuts, the means-tested child tax credit maxed out at $2,000 per child and you actually had to have an income to claim it.
“Traditionally someone needed $2,500 in income to claim the child credit, which became more generous as a person earned more to encourage advancement. This is an extremely modest amount of income, and Democrats torpedoed this threshold for the sole purpose of sending large checks to people who don’t work,” the Journal pointed out.
The board further argued that a better description for what the Democrats did and are trying to do is to create a “child allowance” rather than a tax credit.
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The Congressional Budget Office calculated that making the allowance permanent would cost approximately $1.6 trillion. It would be the single most expensive new entitlement that the Democrats would launch under Build Back Better.
The U.S. has a generous social safety net for those who are in need. What we don’t want to do is disincentivize people from working, particularly when the nation has a major labor shortage.
That labor shortage coupled with easy money from the federal government and deficit spending are driving inflation to highs not seen in over three decades. And those most hurt by that tax, if you will, are Americans at the lowest income levels.
Stop this vicious cycle and do not extend the enhanced child tax credit.
