I'm sorry, you are wrong here. All you need to do is file a return. If under the 2007 return, you make $24,300 adjusted gross income, deduct $10,700 as a couple, then $3400 per exemption for a family of four, your taxable income comes in at $0.00. Any tax credits are now money that you get from the government coffers, taken from people who do pay taxes. Any increase to the exemption does not give you more money because your taxable income cannot be less than $0. However, any increases in tax credits give people who pay no taxes, more of the tax payers money. If the current amount is $1,000 per child, this family gets a check for $2,000 without paying anything in. Then they also get Earned Income Credit. Add Obama's $1,200 for $3,200 and Earned income Credit. Therefore, a family of four making any amount less than $$24,300 gets money back by just filing a return, even though they have no tax liability.
Consider $40,000 minus $10,700 = 29,300. Now subtract $3,400 x 4, taxable is now $15,700. You pay $1,876 for that amount under the 2007 tax table. Now I don't file with child credits, I forget. Is it now $1,000 each? If so, $1876 - $2,000 = a tax return of $124 more than what was taken from your paycheck in federal taxes. Under McCai'ns increasing the exemptions for children, the taxable income would reduce to $8,900 (I used $3,400 rather than $3,500 for 2007) for a tax liability of $948. Retaining the current child credit would mean this family gets $1052 more back than what was taken from wage whitholding. Obama's change for $40,000 family of four would still show the liability at $1876, but $2,000 plus the additional $1200 is $1876 - $3,200 or $1,324 return over what was paid in.
I'm not in favor of either plan myself, but I am dead set against tax credits. I think they should be removed from the system. Both parties play to the en lement mentality of the tax payer, and that is dangerous for democracy.