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Rude tax-time gift from past Republicans

Having just done my taxes (oh so early), thought I should note one really nasty zinger left behind from the Bush years, and the supposedly tax-adverse Republican Congress.

When one of your dependents hits 17 years old, they no longer count as an exemption at tax time. Best name I can think of for this is the "Fuck-You Middle Class Parents of Teenagers" change in the tax law. If you are poor enough, or rich enough, this change in exemptions probably does not make a noticeable difference.

A 17-year old is in reality still very much a dependent. As parent, I can assure you that the expenses for 17-year olds are higher (much!) than at any other time - so there is no logical sense to this.

There is another even nastier interpretation - the aim was to put economic stress on families so as to pump more kids into the military. Need more bodies to fight those post-9/11 wars! (But not kids of politicians or rich Republicans.) When my oldest (now 21) hit 17, the change was new enough that the IRS website was only partly-updated, and I got very confused trying to figure out what was right.

What a nice turd parting gift left behind by the Republicans. Either the Republicans did not care about pissing off that part of the demographic, or they hoped it would be forgotten by election time.