Voting 'No' on Stimulus

Republicans get ready for an Obamanomics meltdown.

JAMES FREEMAN

President Obama's $825 billion (and counting) "stimulus" is steamrolling through Congress. One group of conservative Republicans is betting that it will only worsen the country's economic plight.

That's where the House Republican Study Committee comes in. "No Trillion Dollar Spending Spree" is the message from this conservative caucus. Led by its new chairman, Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, the RSC now counts more than 100 House Republicans among its members. Mr. Price calls the Democrats' proposal "the non-stimulus plan" and says it "simply won't work" because it offers no market incentives to create jobs. What the plan does offer are multibillion-dollar gifts to state governments, teachers unions, and the environmental lobby, with such gems as a $6 billion program to "weatherize modest-income homes."

In contrast, Mr. Price and company have drawn up their own plan, the "Economic Recovery and Middle-Class Relief Act," which aims to stimulate the economy without new government spending. It calls for a permanent five-percentage point income tax cut across all brackets and also would lock in today's low capital gains and dividend tax rates at 15%, instead of allowing rates to climb after 2010. Their plan would also index capital gains for inflation and slash America's corporate tax rate to 25% from 35%. The bill offers a modest cut in nondefense discretionary spending.

The bill has zero chance of becoming law, of course, but that's not the point right now for House conservatives. Mr. Price says Republicans "have a responsibility to provide a coherent and positive contrast" to Democrat plans for bigger government. His plan isn't merely an "alternative," but a "solution" to the country's gathering economic crisis. When voters discover that the Obama approach is a turkey, he says, a responsible opposition party has to have a better approach ready to go. Says Rep. Price: "It's important to hold folks accountable, and over time Americans will do that."