Letter to the editor: Protect tax credits that help the poor and middle class

I’m pleased The Sun covered the release of the U.S. Census’ annual poverty report recently.

The report shows that in 2011, 46 million Americans lived in poverty, including more than one in four children under age 5. It is tragedy that in a country as blessed and as wealthy as ours, nearly 1 in 7 of our fellow Americans struggle to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.

Fortunately, we have tools to make things better. The Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit are very effective at poverty-reduction. In 2010, these credits lifted 9.2 million people out of poverty, more than half of them children. Firemen, police offices, teachers, even military personnel benefit from these credits, which have until recently enjoyed broad bipartisan support. Unfortunately, key improvements to these credits will expire in December and if House leadership get its way, these credits would see even deeper cuts (while millionaires and billionaires get more tax cuts). The result is simple: more children and families in poverty. I urge our congressional delegation to put working families first.

Don’t raise taxes on the poor and middle class. Protect and extend the current EITC and CTC.

James M. Nordlund

Fargo

Tags: opinion, letters, politics