In 2021 when the American Rescue Plan was put into effect, it took the Child Tax Credit & increased its size and eligibility, making it “fully refundable” (i.e., it would be given to families even if they did not owe taxes to the government), and started disbursing its benefits as regular payments made directly into bank accounts.
It proved to be a true lifesaver for families whose troubles had been made worse by the pandemic and — in a striking departure from conventional assistance programs — left it up to the parents to select where that funding was most needed. Some used it to buy groceries, some to take their children to the dentist, and some to cover childcare costs.
The Enlarged Child Tax Credit
The 2021 rule only authorized a year of payouts, in part due to the program’s high cost and in part because Democrats thought voters would find it so appealing that lawmakers wouldn’t let it expire. A few on the left interpreted it as proof that Joe Biden will follow in FDR’s footsteps as president and leave a revamped welfare state in his wake.
However, a significant political figure had a different perspective on the enlarged Child Tax Credit. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, whose opposition to the credit was staunch and whose backing was essential to whatever legislative victory his party would have, has repeatedly overturned the Democrats’ ambitious social spending plans.
He asserted that if there were no job obligations, individuals would just choose not to work. Party leaders ultimately decided against including the program in their last-ditch bid to save Biden’s vision, the Inflation Reduction Act, because the bill’s success or failure depended on Manchin’s vote. Like when it was first implemented, the CTC had an immediate and dramatic effect. 4 million children, according to one estimate, returned to poverty.
Millions of Kids Rescued From Poverty
It appears that the race for Congress is being battled in the middle-class suburbs of the country and that the votes for Democrats will be won or lost on the topics of abortion, immigration, crime, and the threat posed by Trumpism. Millions of children being rescued from misery do not appear to have much resonance on the battlefields of 2022. Additionally, wider currents can be at play.
The largest barrier, according to Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a leading supporter of the program and Greenberg’s wife, is simply “indifference to the status of children, particularly impoverished children,” as she states clearly in her book.
There is still a strong current in our politics that views social programs designed to help the poor as a waste of money and a favor for the “undeserving.” This explains why voters frequently favor social programs that benefit everyone, such as Social Security & Medicare, but not those that benefit “them” reports Politico.
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