Speaking of the tendency of Republicans to abandon market-friendly government programs when they have lost their use as a wedge against other government programs, conservative heartthrob Chris Christie is proposing to cut the Earned Income Tax Credit:
Despite the governor’s stated aversion to tax increases to help fill the state’s gaping shortfall, the budget plan he negotiated with leading lawmakers — which the full legislature will vote on next Monday — raises taxes on families with children earning under $48,000. The increase comes in the form of a reduction in the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which will take $45 million from 485,000 families. (The budget also eliminates a property tax rebate for seniors, renters, and homeowners with incomes below $75,000, among other cuts.)
Christie has already vetoed a tax hike on millionaires. Christie's wild popularity on the right, I'd guess, is due to the fact that he is both one of the few elected officials implementing a right-wing agenda as opposed to merely obstructing a liberal agenda. And he's openly implementing a policy of protecting the rich and punishing the poor.