Ben Buckman.net

I really would like to believe that the Republicans have a coherent alternative to the Democrats' economic plan, one also based on sound principles, perhaps with different but equally valid assumptions. (Economics is full of such assumptions; it's not just math.) It would be nice to hear the differing assumptions straight out so we can judge between them. But the congressional GOP's opposition to this stimulus bill is plainly incoherent.

We have John McCain, for instance, opposing the bill because it would invest in broadband infrastructure. Because truly, in a 21st century global economy, universal internet access has no economic benefit.

The GOP caucus wants immediate tax cuts, money put into the hands of people who best know how to spend it, not slow, pork-barrel construction projects dictated by pesky bureaucrats. There's some logic to that. So why are they so adamant that people who only pay payroll tax shouldn't get any relief? By their own logic, handing a check to every man, woman, and child in America, rich or poor, should be the best stimulus! Don't the hard-working people of America know how to spend their money better than Washington? Or are people too poor to pay income tax officially not hard-working, or smart, or something enough to be worthy of stimulus?

If their theory is that only people financially savvy enough to be rich in the first place are smart enough to use their money wisely to stimulate the economy, then they should come out and say just that, honestly. Fat chance of that.

Or maybe the entire Republican ideology really boils down to 2 principles: 1) Democrats are bad. 2) Rich people shouldn't pay taxes. (I'm sure some will say here: duh.)

It's one thing to be a coherent opposition, preparing for the inevitable failure of the administration's agenda, so they can pick up the wreckage and regain power. (The Democrats just did that, incidentally.) It's another to attack anything the Democrats propose, or anything the helps the poor, or anything that doesn't have the words "tax" and "cut" on it. That just looks like they're scared: scared the plan actually will work, scared that their only options are to support it as patsies or oppose the solution, scared they have no alternative, and know it, and don't know what the hell to do about it.

It's tough to be a Republican today. Boo hoo.