To Today's GOP, Reagan Would Be a Socialist

The Republican Party has moved so far to the right that even Ronald Reagan is a socialist now.

In order to pass a corporate tax break for Sears and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Democrats had to remove a provision doubling the Earned Income Tax Credit from 5 percent to 10 percent.

According to the Daily Herald, House Minority Leader Tom Cross objected to the increase, “saying the package should be about jobs, not entitlements.”

Actually, the Earned Income Tax Credit is an antidote to entitlements, because it allows poor people to keep more of their wages. The EITC was instituted under Gerald Ford and greatly expanded under Reagan, who called it “the best anti-poverty, the best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress.”

Reagan believed his philosophy -- that lower taxes stimulate initiative -- should apply to all income levels. But the Illinois House Republicans believe tax cuts should only go to the wealthy -- excuse me, to job creators.

House Democrats split the Earned Income Tax Credit increase off from the Sears/CME tax break, and will vote on it separately next week. If the Republicans won’t carry on the legacy of our only Illinois-born president, the Democrats will.

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