Remember, the EITC and ACTC have already grown into very big problems. The EITC will cost a shade over $70 billion in fiscal 2015. The refundable portion of the child tax credit will cost about $33 billion. That’s $100 billion in total. Together, they cost 10 times as much as traditional cash welfare. Soon they will cost much, much more.
So when liberal columnists express amazement that Republicans in Congress are suddenly expressing qualms about EITC and ACTC growth … well, this is why. EITC and ACTC are not hostages seized by anti-poor Republicans to send a message of intimidation to the president. They are the first and most obvious costs of the president’s amnesty.
Many more such costs will come, and they will be even larger still, as pressure grows to enroll formerly illegal aliens in Medicaid.
Quaintly enough, U.S. immigration law still forbids the president to grant residency to aliens likely to become “a public charge.” The list of exceptions, however, overwhelms the rule.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member