We're Against Tax Cuts that Benefit Working Poor, But For the Tax Cuts for the Wealthy?

Tax legislation can get pretty arcane, pretty fast. Honestly, how many of you think about income taxes more than once a year (normally, when you are frantically trying to pull together a year's worth of receipts and pay stubs sometime between January and April 15)?

There is a philosophical debate going on now in the halls of Congress.

It goes like this:

We can't afford to continue the expansion of the earned income tax credit that was passed last year. Why? Because of the deficit.

We can't afford NOT to continue the tax cuts for the affluent passed in 2001. Why? Because of the economy.

Get it. The affluent (those who make more than $200,000 per year for singles, $250,000 per year for couples) need a tax cut because, well if we don't give them one, the economy will never come out of the toilet. If we extend the earned income tax credit for those who make between $3,000 and $12,500 or for those who have more than two children, we can't afford it. It will bankrupt the country. (The earned income credit only pertains to those families who make less than $48,000 per year.)

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat. "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

An article about the proposed extension of the earned income credit can be found in today's GR Press:

www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/09/should_congress_make_permanent.html

It is an election year. Information about contacting your local congressman can be found at:

Fred Upton (6th district including Kalamazoo, Berrien & Cass Counties, Three Rivers, cities of South Haven, Allegan, and Wayland:

upton.house.gov/Contact/default.aspx

Pete Hoekstra (2nd district including Saugatuck and points north along lake shore):

hoekstra.house.gov/Contact/

Mark Schauer (7th district including Battle Creek, Marshall, Albion, & Coldwater):

schauer.house.gov/Contact/

P.S. The Michigan League for Human Services has a handy fact sheet on the tax cuts that benefit the working poor at:

www.milhs.org/Media/EDocs/FactSheetRefundTaxCredits810.pdf