(TruthandLiberty.com) – In March 2021, Democrats passed the nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Act on a party-line vote. Former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers warned Democrats the bill would overheat the economy and cause inflation. In November, former Obama Treasury official Steven Rattner sided with Summers and blamed Democrats for the emerging economic crisis. Tucked away in the bill was a Child Tax Credit that paid parents $250 per child ages 6 to 17 and up to $300 per child under six years of age.
The Child Tax Credit died at the end of 2021 when Democrats failed to pass their $2 trillion semi-socialist Build Back Better proposal. Advocates said the program helped bring children out of poverty. Opponents called it a wealth redistribution plan that empowered parents to stay home instead of finding work.
Romney Proposes Adaptations to Socialist Plan
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has been working with a select group of Republicans to revive the Child Tax Credit plan. He’s hoping to gain enough bipartisan support for new legislation, but that may be wishful thinking. Many Republicans simply don’t support bringing it back. Moderates, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), and most left-leaning Democrats have also failed to back it.
So, what’s the Utah Senator’s plan?
There are some similarities and differences to the Democrat’s Child Tax Credit plan. Romney proposes monthly checks up to $350 per child available to single parents making upward of $200,000 per year or couples who file jointly and make $400,000 combined. Notice both the amount and the income threshold are higher than the Democrats’ plan.
In addition to the number of monthly checks and income increases, Romney also proposes a work requirement. He hasn’t stipulated all the details but does propose 80 hours of work per month, comparable hours in a job training program or volunteer work. Parents would need to prove they meet the requirements. Romney also expressed empathy for parents who choose to stay home with their kids. Still, the Utah senator says most of the lawmakers he’s spoken with say they want a work requirement to back a proposal.
Can Romney’s Proposal Pass?
The question comes down to one central idea. Is this a socialist redistribution plan that recipients don’t pay into, or is it a safety net? One of the driving differences in many people’s minds between the Child Tax Credit and programs like Medicare and Social Security is that they paid into the latter throughout their working lives.
Assuming Romney’s bill could pass in the Senate, it’s unlikely to gain traction in the House. Many Democrats have expressed little interest in work provisions to receive monthly recurring payments from the government, especially for single-parent homes.
Where does that leave the legislation?
Some Democrats may support the bill to get something done, but it may not be enough to pass the legislation into law. The devil is always in the details. What may appear to be an iffy pro-capitalist and pro-working piece of legislation could devolve quickly into something much worse once House committees led by Democrats start marking up the proposal. Once the divisions rear their heads, the legislation is doomed to die in an evenly divided Senate and razor-thin House.
Still, should the Child Tax Credit be expanded? It depends. How comfortable would the country be with growing the debt by another $1 trillion over 10 years, encouraging free government money at the expense of those who work and potentially expanding inflation even further?
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