1) A $4,200 child tax credit seems way to small to get anyone to have another kid. We should be aiming higher if we actually want to get results. The money is there if it's actually a priority.
2) We should seriously consider using payroll taxes as the basis for CTC rather than refundable fixed tax credits. The incentives for work and marriage are much stronger. It's way simpler and fairer than income taxes.
Just take line 3 of your W2, wages applicable to social security, and refund X% per child. I favor an X% that would equate to a much higher number for the median family than the current or proposed CTC.
3) I don't like this "income phase out" stuff. This reduces cost by what, 1%? That doesn't seem like enough money to send the message "successful people's kids are worthless".
Using payroll taxes will naturally cap things because payroll taxes stop at $168,000 in income. You won't be sending millionaire checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars. But you also won't be telling them their kids are worthless in the governments eye.
I largely see the roll of reform to transfer resources *within* classes from those having many children form those having few to none.
1) A $4,200 child tax credit seems way to small to get anyone to have another kid. We should be aiming higher if we actually want to get results. The money is there if it's actually a priority.
2) We should seriously consider using payroll taxes as the basis for CTC rather than refundable fixed tax credits. The incentives for work and marriage are much stronger. It's way simpler and fairer than income taxes.
Just take line 3 of your W2, wages applicable to social security, and refund X% per child. I favor an X% that would equate to a much higher number for the median family than the current or proposed CTC.
3) I don't like this "income phase out" stuff. This reduces cost by what, 1%? That doesn't seem like enough money to send the message "successful people's kids are worthless".
Using payroll taxes will naturally cap things because payroll taxes stop at $168,000 in income. You won't be sending millionaire checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars. But you also won't be telling them their kids are worthless in the governments eye.
I largely see the roll of reform to transfer resources *within* classes from those having many children form those having few to none.