GOP Congressional Priorities

The GOP Congressmen have finally gotten around to doing something. Wait, if you're thinking they have improved their wildly successful alternate budget - no nothing there. A new view on the stimulus? Nope. An answer to the banking crisis? Sorry. New tax cuts to bring down the deficit? You would think so, but no. The environment? Right. Energy policy? No, sorry no new tax cuts for big oil. Foreign affairs? Nada. A new timetable for Iraq? Zip.

No, they've come out with new attack commercials on Congressional Democrats. Three months into the new Congress, 19 months before the next elections. I guess you can't start too soon.

I've never liked negative campaigning, but I have to admit it can be successful. However, after you've maligned an opponent, you need to show an alternative. These commercials don't. They just make fun of the Congressman. They don't say how a Republican might do it different. They don't say who would make a difference. No new ideas, no fresh face.

They do have a face on them though, that of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. They didn't pick up on it in 2006 or in 2008. The idea of a Democratically controlled Congress just doesn't scare most people like it does Rush Limbaugh and his audience. I think that the GOP uses sound data. By that I mean they think that loud protests must be coming from a large group of people, instead of one really loud nut screaming at the rain.

The Republicans just can't accept the fact that a majority of Americans don't believe another small for them, big for others, tax cut will bring the deficit down. And small wonder, since it won't.

The GOP will have you believe it will by using the Reagan tax cut, or even the Kennedy tax cut as examples. These tax cuts did increase government revenues. The Kennedy cut brought the top rate down from 90%, the Reagan cut down from 70%. The previous rates were confiscatory. The cuts did free up a lot of capital and provided incentives for new technology. The Bush cut from 39% to 35% freed up enough capital to blow up a bubble. Which it did.

Since tax cuts won't work, they have to rely on scaring the public. And they are scary people.