The alternative

In case no one has noticed the Republicans have actually put forward an alternative to the Obama-backed stimulus bill. Rep. Tom Price summarizes it thusly:

This sensible, practical solution will immediately give American taxpayers greater freedom to save and spend by providing a 5 percent across-the-board income tax cut. The Economic Recovery Act increases the child tax credit and removes the penalties for withdrawing from 401(k) and IRA funds. These measures, among others, provide relief to those who are struggling while also providing incentives to invest for the future.

As the American people understand, business, not government, is where jobs are created, and our proposal unleashes the power of American enterprise to grow and invest in American workers. Cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, the Economic Recovery Act puts us on par with the European Union, making investment in American business attractive once more. The proposal also encourages growth by allowing businesses to immediately deduct the costs of all assets and making the capital gains tax structure more investment-friendly.

And the legislation would not be complete without a down payment on reducing government spending. The bill includes a 1 percent across-the-board spending cut on all non-defense discretionary spending.

Now, let's compare that to the Democratic plan which provides funding for, among other things, Amtrak, child care, the National Endowment for the Arts, carbon-capture demonstration projects, digital TV conversion coupons, renewable energy, mass transit, Pell grants, renovation of college buildings, weatherizing buildings, the Smithsonian, buying more cars for the federal government, Medicare/aid, etc. It's a virtual grab bag with no overarching theme other than just throwing a bunch of money around.

Indeed, beyond the particulars of each plan, it's quite illuminating to contrast the philosophies behind each of them. Democrats want to spend money on all sorts of things, pretty much across the board. They think that they know how the economy ticks and that they know best where the money should be spent to generate the best returns. The Republican plan, meanwhile, is almost entirely based on tax cutting and letting people keep more of what they earn. Rather than the government directing where the funding should go they leave it up to the people themselves to decide. The Republican plan also has the virtue of at least looking for some offsets in spending though its 1 percent across the board cut.

Obama, for all the talk of change and paeans to sacrifice in his inaugural address, only proposes more of the same and avoids any hard choices.