The president's 2003 tax proposals include accelerating the so-called "marriage penalty" relief for middle- and upper-class married couples, rather than phasing in the change over a decade. Yet, for the largest source of cash assistance to low-income working families—the earned income tax credit—the administration has elected to ignore quicker remedies to the marriage penalty. While the tax credit is a vital mechanism for helping the working poor escape poverty, it imposes substantial marriage penalties on low-income couples.