Michael: I think one of the original arguments for the Earned Income Credit was that it was an offset to payroll taxes. Conservatives have tended to argue that tax credits, if they should exist at all, should be applied only against income taxes and not against payroll taxes. I can see some arguments on both sides of that question. What I don’t get is why conservatives have tried to make this into a huge point of principle.

And now I really will get going.