Who needs children?

The Euro debt crisis and the presidential debate season together have unearthed a submerged debate over the value of families on the Right.

The Wall Street Journal actually singled out as the one “most disappointing” part of Rick Santorum’s tax plan the “proposal to triple the tax credit for children.”

(Actually Santorum proposes to triple the personal deduction for children, not the tax credit, but I digress).

To the Wall Street Journal editors protecting family income from government depredation is merely “a hobby horse of the Christian right,” or “social policy masquerading as economics..” because such a tax provision will not spur economic growth, “it merely rewards taxpayers who have children over those who don’t.” Continue reading →