Wampum

Those Child Tax Credit checks... Are they really such a good thing?

A few weeks back, I wrote on a Gallup poll which found that only a small number of American's who were getting the child tax credit rebates were planning on spending them. This article showcases families who, while getting them, wonder if they're even such a good thing.

Child tax credit checks welcome, but some parents question wisdom of the payouts By DAVID CRARY The Associated Press 7/26/03 5:08 PM

For millions of middle-class families, the check is in the mail -- $400, $800, perhaps more -- courtesy of Congress. Parents benefiting from the expanded child tax credit will welcome the cash, but some question the wisdom of such payouts at a time of deficits and cutbacks.

"I'd rather have the public services and the public schools have the money they need," said Jean Powers, 41, a mother of two from Beaverton, Ore. "I'm not happy with it."

Even more displeased are some of the low-income parents not receiving the checks -- notably those who earn less than roughly $26,000 and are excluded from the credit because they don't pay enough federal income tax.

Reporter Crary gets a whole boatload of good quotes from families getting the credit, as well as who make too little. If these sentiments are at all representative of Main Street America, they, like the Gallup poll, spell trouble for Bush's plan to buy off the election with small bribes to the middle class.