text: tax season question: why do they call it an 'earned income tax credit'? seriously why?  to me, it seems more like an "unearned handout from the taxpayers".  i'm paying through the nose, but my deadbeat brother is getting this huge freakin' check from the irs...and he's going to use it for...wait for it...a bumpin' stereo for his pos car. and from what i can tell, he seems to be the rule rather than the exception.  help me out here...why the f*@k are we subsidizing this bullshit? there are many individuals, legal and illegal, who are out for whatever they can get.  they want to sit home and watch their cable tv (paid for by the taxpayers) drinking beer and eating chips.  they are lazy and have learned how to work the system.