he was the guy that came up with the earned income credit which was put in place to balance off the increases in fica tax
I thought it was Nixon (or during his adminstration) that the EIC was invented
Yep, and to make Fistful happy: here's my documentation/proof:
http://www.nber.org/digest/aug06/w11729.htmlThe EITC began in 1975 as a modest program aimed at offsetting the Social Security payroll tax for low-income families with children. The design of the credit was the result of a vigorous public debate around the disincentive effects of a Negative Income Tax (NIT) proposed by the Nixon Administration. The NIT would allow a transfer that is taxed away at a constant flat rate for all taxpayers. To offset the resulting disincentive effects, the EITC was made available only to workers; the maximum credit was earned, and the credit was phased out only after an untaxed region.
Reagan expanded it:
http://www.caseygrants.org/documents/reports/MCF_EITC_Paper.pdfThe Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) was originally enacted in 1975, in the wake of the failure of
President Nixons proposed Family Assistance Plan. Although it began as a temporary and limited
alternative to President Nixons proposal, the EITC has, in the years since, been made permanent
and been refined and expanded. In 1986, the EITC was a critical reason why President Reagan
could proclaim that the Tax Reform Act took millions of working poor off the income tax rolls, and
there were important further expansions in 1990 and 1993. Further, the EITC has been amended
several times to address noncompliance problems and to try to simplify the filing process, and the
IRS has undertaken programs of enhanced enforcement and expanded outreach to educate potentially
eligible taxpayers about the credit. In addition, since 1997, the EITC has been complemented
by a Child Tax credit that provides additional benefits to many families.
here's more documentation
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL31768_20070315.pdfPage CRS-20 (or 24 in your PDF viewer)
Appendix 1. Legislative History of the EITC
The idea that became the EITC first arose during congressional consideration
of President Nixons 1971 welfare reform proposal. Nixons proposal, the Family
Assistance Plan, would have helped working poor, two-parent families with children
by means of a federal minimum cash guarantee that would have replaced the
federal-state welfare program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).
Work Bonus Plan (1972-1974 Proposals)
The EITC was patterned after a proposal, then known as a work bonus for the
working poor, recommended by the Senate Finance Committee in April 1972.
Though the idea originated as an alternative to the proposed Family Assistance
Program, the work bonus provision was advocated as a refund of Social Security
taxes paid by employers and employees on low annual earnings and was to have been
available only for wages subject to Social Security taxation.
The Senate approved the work bonus plan in 1972, 1973, and 1974, but the
House did not accept it until 1975.
Enactment of EITC in 1975
The Tax Reduction Act of 1975 (P.L. 94-12) included a provision that
established, in Section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code, a refundable credit to tax
filers with incomes below $8,000. This earned income credit was to equal 10% of
the first $4,000 of any earnings (including earnings not subject to Social Security
taxation) and thus could not exceed $400 per year. The credit was to be phased out,
at a rate of 10%, for adjusted gross income (AGI) above $8,000.
