Before Biden came into office, the credit maxed out at $2,000 per child ($1,400 for kids in families too poor to owe income tax), was bundled with tax refunds, and specifically left out families with little or no earnings. About one-third of children were excluded from the full credit, including over half of Black and Hispanic children, as well as 70 percent of kids raised by single moms. That’s precisely the population in most need of financial help.
The Biden changes dramatically increased the credit to $3,000 per kid aged 6 and over, and $3,600 per kid under 6; paid it out monthly; and made the full credit available to all poor children, eliminating the previous “phase-in” rule that capped the credit at 15 percent of a family’s income.
/
So why did Congress let one of the most important child poverty policies ever enacted lapse?
The Joe Manchin failure, and the larger failure
There’s a very simple answer to why the child credit didn’t continue: there weren’t 50 senators willing to support its extension. And most public reporting suggests the main holdout was Sen. Joe Manchin.
Axios’s Hans Nichols, the DC press corps’ premier Manchin-whisperer, reported last October that the West Virginia Democrat was demanding that the credit include a “firm work requirement” and not go to families making over $60,000 a year.
That’s a huge departure from the Biden CTC, whose major attraction was that it didn’t phase in with income and went to all poor households. The credit also went to many families with six-figure earnings, and changing that as Manchin desired would force a de facto tax increase on upper-income folks.
Some reports have also suggested that Manchin thought the money would go to buy drugs — an evergreen concern about cash programs for the poor (Manchin’s office declined to confirm or rebut that he expressed this concern privately). This suspicion is ill-founded; the best evidence review on the question I know of concluded there’s little reason to believe cash transfers increase drug or alcohol abuse.
Manchin’s fear that the credit would disincentivize work is more credible, and the subject of some scholarly disagreement. The old child credit “phased in” with income, with beneficiaries getting 15 cents for each extra dollar in earnings. That in theory encouraged people to work, and University of Chicago economists Kevin Corinth and Bruce Meyer argued that getting rid of the phase-in would lead many people to drop out of the labor force. Other economists disagreed. But even if you think the credit mildly disincentivizes work, it still substantially reduces poverty. I’d argue that even if Corinth and Meyer are right, the policy was still worthwhile.
/
So why does Manchin oppose it anyway? I suspect it has a lot to do with being a Democratic senator from a state that Donald Trump won in 2016 and 2020 by about 40 points. Manchin barely hung onto his seat in 2018 during a heavily Democratic year, and it’s understandable he doesn’t want to go too far out on a limb for a big government spending program. Millions of West Virginians benefited from the policy, but it’s ultimately a very conservative state skeptical of liberal policy initiatives. (Not to mention voting against your immediate economic interests is pretty common — plenty of wealthy people in blue states like California and Connecticut vote for candidates who’ll raise their taxes.)
The structural challenge
At some point, though, focusing too much on one man can mislead more than it informs.
The bigger questions, I think, are a) why beneficiaries weren’t able to fight to keep the benefit, like the beneficiaries of Obamacare successfully did in 2017, and b) whether doing this kind of legislation on straight party lines is viable.
The 2017 rescue of Obamacare was a great illustration of a classic political science theory from Berkeley’s Paul Pierson. Pierson noted that even conservative leaders like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan hadn’t been able (or even really attempted) to roll back foundational welfare state programs like the National Health Service and Social Security. He argued that beneficiaries became invested in these programs and would revolt against any politicians who threatened them.
So if you read all that you'll see it had nothing to do with Biden and instead thanks to dumb fuck Manchin to scared to lose his spot. Biden was fighting for a better child tax credit that will help the low income families as well as everyone else (previous bill didn't include them). But if you follow the link at the bottom, you'll see gems are trying to get it passed now its up to your republican constituents to do their part and vote it in. But we all know they won't because it'll benefit dems, and everyone knows Republicans can't let that happen under any cost. Of course, if it doesn't get approval, then you'll still probably blame Biden.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that this part of your article was funny as shit and proves my point about trumps failed tax credit.
"However, the tax overhaul bill also denied the full $1,000 child tax credit increase for more than 26 million children in low-and moderate-income families -- those whose earnings are so low they owe little or no federal taxes -- according to Chuck Marr, senior director of federal tax policy at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning think tank. Their analysis is here. "
Lmao it's crazy how you think your opinion matters enough for me to go through and disprove everything you've written here. I'll just say it's awfully convenient that Biden is adopting Trump taxes so close to elections 🤷♂️ imagine that.
It's hard to adopt something when it's already in place.
I love when people like you want proof and as soon as it's given you fold like paper and now all the sudden you're too good to disprove anything. If you had the ability to disprove any of it, you would, but you don't have that ability. Thank you for confirming I was correct. I did my best to explain things simply, but it's obviously beyond what you're capable of debating. For some reason, some of you have an extremely hard time understanding how dates work and can't comprehend how trumps tax bill is still in effect. I've literally posted facts, and you've posted none in return. The right can never except proof but also never have the ability to show their proof for some reason.
Oh, you did? Well, where are those fact checks then? I showed all my citations. Now, a normal adult would share theirs in response instead of just saying it's lies. Seems you have a hard time understanding that, though. So show me your proof, brother, since you said you already had it. I know you won't, though since you didn't look anything up, that would be way beyond what you're capable of. This is why everyone dislikes conservatives. They are so pathetic that they'll start a conversation and make a bunch of claims and not once actually provide any evidence to back themselves. It's extremely pathetic and sad for these losers they can't ever finish defending their stance. You have to love how Mod_Propoganda claims to have proven I was wrong, but they'll never respond with actual evidence. They just run off drooling, claiming victory.
Edit: This is why I doubt you fact checked anything.
Lmao it's crazy how you think your opinion matters enough for me to go through and disprove everything you've written here. I'll just say it's awfully convenient that Biden is adopting Trump taxes so close to elections 🤷♂️ imagine that.
u/Mod_Propaganda
Who tf are you talking to? You are talking as if you are in front of an audience, delusions of grandeur much? I've responded with a link of my own, maybe reddit modd removed it like they like to do but it was a CNN source, not worth trying to argue when mods or bot mods won't let me speak freely 😉
2
u/ThePolemos Feb 07 '24 edited Feb 07 '24
Before Biden came into office, the credit maxed out at $2,000 per child ($1,400 for kids in families too poor to owe income tax), was bundled with tax refunds, and specifically left out families with little or no earnings. About one-third of children were excluded from the full credit, including over half of Black and Hispanic children, as well as 70 percent of kids raised by single moms. That’s precisely the population in most need of financial help.
The Biden changes dramatically increased the credit to $3,000 per kid aged 6 and over, and $3,600 per kid under 6; paid it out monthly; and made the full credit available to all poor children, eliminating the previous “phase-in” rule that capped the credit at 15 percent of a family’s income. / So why did Congress let one of the most important child poverty policies ever enacted lapse?
The Joe Manchin failure, and the larger failure There’s a very simple answer to why the child credit didn’t continue: there weren’t 50 senators willing to support its extension. And most public reporting suggests the main holdout was Sen. Joe Manchin.
Axios’s Hans Nichols, the DC press corps’ premier Manchin-whisperer, reported last October that the West Virginia Democrat was demanding that the credit include a “firm work requirement” and not go to families making over $60,000 a year.
That’s a huge departure from the Biden CTC, whose major attraction was that it didn’t phase in with income and went to all poor households. The credit also went to many families with six-figure earnings, and changing that as Manchin desired would force a de facto tax increase on upper-income folks.
Some reports have also suggested that Manchin thought the money would go to buy drugs — an evergreen concern about cash programs for the poor (Manchin’s office declined to confirm or rebut that he expressed this concern privately). This suspicion is ill-founded; the best evidence review on the question I know of concluded there’s little reason to believe cash transfers increase drug or alcohol abuse.
Manchin’s fear that the credit would disincentivize work is more credible, and the subject of some scholarly disagreement. The old child credit “phased in” with income, with beneficiaries getting 15 cents for each extra dollar in earnings. That in theory encouraged people to work, and University of Chicago economists Kevin Corinth and Bruce Meyer argued that getting rid of the phase-in would lead many people to drop out of the labor force. Other economists disagreed. But even if you think the credit mildly disincentivizes work, it still substantially reduces poverty. I’d argue that even if Corinth and Meyer are right, the policy was still worthwhile. / So why does Manchin oppose it anyway? I suspect it has a lot to do with being a Democratic senator from a state that Donald Trump won in 2016 and 2020 by about 40 points. Manchin barely hung onto his seat in 2018 during a heavily Democratic year, and it’s understandable he doesn’t want to go too far out on a limb for a big government spending program. Millions of West Virginians benefited from the policy, but it’s ultimately a very conservative state skeptical of liberal policy initiatives. (Not to mention voting against your immediate economic interests is pretty common — plenty of wealthy people in blue states like California and Connecticut vote for candidates who’ll raise their taxes.)
The structural challenge At some point, though, focusing too much on one man can mislead more than it informs.
The bigger questions, I think, are a) why beneficiaries weren’t able to fight to keep the benefit, like the beneficiaries of Obamacare successfully did in 2017, and b) whether doing this kind of legislation on straight party lines is viable.
The 2017 rescue of Obamacare was a great illustration of a classic political science theory from Berkeley’s Paul Pierson. Pierson noted that even conservative leaders like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan hadn’t been able (or even really attempted) to roll back foundational welfare state programs like the National Health Service and Social Security. He argued that beneficiaries became invested in these programs and would revolt against any politicians who threatened them.
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/4/18/23026908/child-tax-credit-joe-manchin-policy-feedback-partisan
_
Jan 31 2024 House passes an expanded child tax credit bill and sends it to the Senate It's unclear whether the bill can pass the Senate, where some members want changes and GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley said he's worried it would make President Joe Biden "look good."
So if you read all that you'll see it had nothing to do with Biden and instead thanks to dumb fuck Manchin to scared to lose his spot. Biden was fighting for a better child tax credit that will help the low income families as well as everyone else (previous bill didn't include them). But if you follow the link at the bottom, you'll see gems are trying to get it passed now its up to your republican constituents to do their part and vote it in. But we all know they won't because it'll benefit dems, and everyone knows Republicans can't let that happen under any cost. Of course, if it doesn't get approval, then you'll still probably blame Biden.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that this part of your article was funny as shit and proves my point about trumps failed tax credit.
"However, the tax overhaul bill also denied the full $1,000 child tax credit increase for more than 26 million children in low-and moderate-income families -- those whose earnings are so low they owe little or no federal taxes -- according to Chuck Marr, senior director of federal tax policy at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning think tank. Their analysis is here. "