No. Some people need the EITC. They would lose a significant source of income if they had to pay a $1. The average EITC benefit is around $2500 – a significant loss for families with incomes of 15K per year.
The elimination of this benefit would force a number of people to stop working, because they’d get health care and housing that they couldn’t afford without the EITC.
It’s bad policy. It might save the cost of the EITC, but it would raise the costs of providing programs that citizens are eligible for. The net result would be for tax payers spending more money. There would be no savings from forcing everyone to pay a dollar in tax.
It the move is symbolic—i.e., people keep the EITC, but they have to give one dollar back and call that paying “taxes,” it’s just plain stupid. What is the point of reducing people’s benefits by $1?
Stupidity! No matter how you look at it.