> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Max Sawicky
> Evidently all three of the most likely prez
> candidates (Gore, Bradley, Bush Jr) will
> be proposing further expansions of the credit,
> so there will more said about it in the immediate
> future, including from yrs truly.
I've heard that Bush has some Jack Kemp style supply-siders writing his tax bill, and they take the (correct) view that some of the highest marginal rates on income paid are by the working poor. The combination of losing transfer payments such as food stamps, losing non-cash benefits such as Medicaid, and the phase-out of the EITC means that it is hard for the working poor to get ahead with any kind of raise.
Rumors are that Bush may extend the EITC to much higher incomes, thereby slowing the phaseout (and the supply-side burden) while selling the program as a broadbased tax cut for the middle class. Good politics and good policy.
--Nathan Newman