President-elect Obama has rankled Democrats by proposing $300
billion in tax relief as part of his economic stimulus plan in an
effort to win over Republicans so he can claim bipartisan
support, but I question whether it makes much sense for
Republicans to be bought off so easily. For one thing, as Peter
Ferrara pointed
out on our main site last week, the proposed "tax cuts" are
really a mirage, because they don't reduce actual rates, which is
something
I also wrote about during the campaign. And in pure political
terms, I'm not sure what Republicans gain by strengthening Obama.
When the midterm elections roll around, if the Obama stimulus
package is viewed as a failure, it will only benefit Republicans
if they opposed it and reestablished themselves as the party that
fights wasteful spending and massive government intervention in
the economy. If the legislation is perceived a success, then it
will benefit Democrats even if many Republicans also supported
the bill. So it seems pretty clear to me that from an
ideological, branding, and political perspective, Republicans
would be best off united in opposition to Obama's plan.
