Are cuts to the EITC program a new frontier on the 'War On The Poor'?

Last edited Mon Oct 28, 2013, 12:31 PM - Edit history (1)

Today on C-Span's Washington Journal, they did a segment titled, 'Earned Income Tax Credit: 13B in improper 2012 refunds'. This is not a new news story. Back in April, many of the MSM outlets published a report released by the IRS claiming that 21% of the refunds sent out were "faulty".

The only change that occurred between 6 months ago and now, is that back then, they reported the figure to be 11B, not 13B. The other thing I noticed was the heavy emphasis on "fraud" by their Tax Foundation guest William McBride, even though a WaPo article from back in April had this to say:

So why are they bringing this up again?... And with an inflated figure to boot? I can't help but wonder if TPTB are revving up the propaganda machine to attack one of the few tax programs that is helpful to the working poor. Perhaps the only program.

EITC is probably one of the best anti-poverty programs out there. I no longer qualify, but found it extremely helpful during the years when my daughter was still living at home, and even during her first couple of years in college.

Given all of the waste, fraud and abuse in the upper income brackets (which probably amounts to far more), why is this an issue deserving of a half hour on C-Span? Furthermore, do they ever even touch the subject of 15% Capital Gains tax rates, offshore tax havens, the cap on FICA, and the "faulty" credits given to wealthy individuals and corporations? If so, I've never seen it.