RECOMMENDED READING
Republicans have been proclaiming for several years now that they have become the party of the working class, and with some justification. Working-class voters have indeed been marching into the party.
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Starting a couple of years ago, and increasingly since the coronavirus economic downturn, there has been a sprouting of new-wave conservative proposals designed to help working-class families, even if those plans required ditching traditional free-market economics and concerns about budget deficits.
A few examples:
— Sen. Marco Rubio, who four years ago held up the Republicans’ big tax-cut package until it included an increase in the child tax credit, now has proposed, along with Sen. Mike Lee, expanding the child tax credit to levels even more generous than the child allowance President Biden and the Democrats put in their new coronavirus stimulus law.
— Sen. Mitt Romney has proposed a guaranteed monthly government cash benefit for families, starting mid-pregnancy and extending until children are 18.
— American Compass, an organization of young, conservative economic thinkers, has proposed a similar benefit, but one tied to work by capping the benefit at the level of income earned the prior year.
Recommended Reading
Can the Expanded Child Tax Credit Come Back From the Dead?
In a discussion of the potential for a permanent expanded Child Tax Credit, Rachel Cohen highlights American Compass research and Wells King’s analysis of the political environment.
Americans Support a Generous Child Benefit Tied to Work
A significant opportunity exists for bipartisan cooperation on a permanent, expanded Child Tax Credit that maintains a connection to work.
Keep the Child Credit Tied to Work
Americans want creative policymaking that better supports families, but always with the expectation that families receiving public support are also working to support themselves.
