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An Alternative to the Stimulus

By: Congressman Jim Jordan (Diary)  |  January 14th, 2009 at 10:29 AM  | 

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The talk of Washington this week is the $850 billion Democrat stimulus bill – with massive federal spending as our country’s debt tops $10 trillion.

The big-government approach is supported by President-Elect Obama, who recently said that “government” is the only one that can fix this economy.

We in the Republican Study Committee strongly disagree.

We don’t believe in tax-and-stimulate. We believe in cutting taxes to put more money back in the hands of the families and job creators that make our economy work.

We have an alternative stimulus plan that is more fiscally responsible, with tax cuts and spending cuts to promote real economic growth.

  • We’re proposing a permanent 5% cut in personal income tax rates.
  • We’re cutting taxes on businesses from 35% to 25% so they are better seated to invest and create jobs.
  • We want to alleviate debt for future generations – by avoiding a trillion dollar spending spree
  • Our bill will contain NO pork and NO earmarks

I encourage you to look at the Economic Recovery and Middle-Class Tax Relief Act here. Let us know how we can better serve you and your family.

Rep. Jordan is the Chairman of the Republican Study Committee’s Budget & Spending Task Force and is in his second term as Ohio’s Fourth District Representative.

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COMMENTS

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  • izoneguy

    As a small business person I agree with your proposals.
    However, it will be an uphill fight against the democrats & Obama.
    Obama does not believe in helping the average business person.
    He said that government is the only way to pull America up.
    The problem is that Obama is a good salesman. He has those 52% that voted for him convinced that his way is the best way. Obama’s proposals are FDR re-treads and we already have proof that it did not work and so we can be assured that it won’t work again.
    Government is the problem, not the solution.

  • http://www.itsmyblog.com uttles

    I like the direction we’ve gone with this in that it’s 100% opposite of the Democrat’s tax and spend mentality but what I don’t like is that we don’t seem to be going far enough.

    Our tax system is broken and antiquated. What’s a 5% cut going to do in a broken system? Nothing.

    Scrap all of our taxes and adopt a simple, fair, consumption tax. Maybe even the FairTax. Call it what you want, we need to abolish income taxes, death taxes, corporate taxes, etc. Those taxes all are involuntary and therefore unconstitutional (yeah yeah, 16th amendment blah blah). We need a consumption tax and we need to stop taxing businesses (they’re the ones who provide jobs after all) and we need this done NOW.

    • izoneguy

      they should not have elected a Marxist into office.
      Obama is the tax man. Get ready for fees & taxes
      on everything. Obama believes that the only way
      to “save” America is to tax it’s citizens to death.

      Of course this will destroy our free market and soon
      there won’t be any economy left to tax. Game Over Man.

      I just wonder how long it will take?

      • http://www.itsmyblog.com uttles

        Dangit man I was trying to be optimistic…

        I fear that what you say is true. If so, where can we go? Is there a country out there where Freedom still exists?

        • izoneguy

          I am ever the eternal optimist as well.
          I look forward to the next four years.
          It will give me much more free time to
          spend with my family. Many of my clients
          are in a holding pattern. No one is
          really cheering for Obama.

          I have been looking around to see
          what country will encourage
          Americans who want to flee with
          what money they have left to
          start over and build new business’s
          with fair tax policies.

          • Brian Hibbert

            Tthis looks like a good plan and I like it. I don’t think it’s got a snowball’s chance of getting past the Democrat lead Congress and getting signed by a socialist leaning President, but I do think it has a better chance of long term success than the plans I’ve heard from the Obama camp.

          • izoneguy

            and please make as many Americans aware of what you are doing. Keep the plan alive and push, especially in 2010 and 2012. After Obama has ruined the country the American people will be ready to get rid of Washington and the IRS altogether.

          • Michael Dugas

            It’s just too bad that stuff like this didn’t get “proposed” while we had both houses of Congress and the Presidency. Now plans like this are being offered when we have not a chance in hell of getting them passed. Our party should have been screaming for corporate tax cuts and ending pork etc while we had a say in it all. They tossed fiscal responsibility out the window with the bath water so to speak.
            Our Party really screwed the pooch and basically handed the country
            to the left by wasting our time in control and not living up to the principles of the right.

          • zuiko

            So stuff like this certainly did get proposed, and passed into law. We even did it with the Democrats controlling the Senate. There’s plenty W did wrong, but tax cuts are not one of them.

          • Michael Dugas

            But it was a time for so much more. Business taxes are still the highest in the land….well until Obama has a chance to weigh in.
            Capital gains, the death tax, social security etc etc. It’s just hard to get excited now that we went from controlling it all to zip.
            I guess it does sound a bit doom and gloom but from my point of view they(government) are doing everything wrong to fix our problems.
            Sorry for slipping into the darkside there folks I promise to attempt cheerfulness in the future. –> see =)

          • olsmithie

            to pay of the enormous debt, the “One” is proposing.
            They and their kids, (and ours, of course.)

            A whole generation raised on microwave popcorn, I want it now, if it feels good, do it and “they owe me” will have to help pay the 2 or 3 times the amount borrowed over the next generations, even though they are ignorant of it presently.

            Forget the finer points of the proposal, if your congressman isn’t proposing something along the lines of the above, get him/her on the phone and give them a verbal kick in the pants.

            I keep hearing folks ask, “what can I do?”
            Reread the preceding paragraph, get off your butt and get on the phone, type letters and give your rep your support if they are doing good work, and give’m Heck if they aren’t.
            If enough people make enough noise it will make a difference.

            It takes a long while to turn a large vessel, but it can be turned.

            Whew, I feel better…

            Regards

    • Alberta

      What you propose is nice, permanent 5% seems to me to be too small with regards to people who actually make money, as many of them have seen loses upwards of 30% in their pension funds or portfolios.

      I think if you wanted to be serious about this, this is a perfect issue to take on the change rhetoric from the democrats. Propose real change. Progressive income tax rates are Jacobin. How about a flat tax instead?

      On business taxes, again, with losses in the market for many exceeding 30%, a 10% cut in rates, while always appreciated, I think falls short again. How about a corporate tax rate of 0%? I know Im dreaming. However, I think the GOP should pursue a policy (and be open and talk about it) of making America the least taxed business destination in the world. I believe the Irish have a rate of about 15%. Surely we can beat the Europeans.

      A signed contract ala Gingrich on spending may be suicidal in these times. However, when a GOP politician says they are committed to no more spending, they find that there are no more people who believe them. When you say NO to pork and NO to stimulus, I would suggest that you should be carefull to be consistent and actually follow through. No more fisc al hypocracy.

      • zuiko

        How exactly are you supposed to sell a tax hike on the poor, a tax cut for the wealthy, and the status quo for the middle class? That’s exactly what a flat tax would amount to.

        I would like to see a less progressive system than we got, but I don’t see 1) how a flat tax ever happens or 2) how you don’t lose elections on the flat tax or 3) why a flat tax on income is all that desirable. If we are talking pie-in-the-sky ideas that will never happen, I would scrap the income tax entirely. It is a horrible tax and impossible to enforce, since there is so much that goes into the calculation of income.

        • Steve W

          That is why I support the FairTax instead – but this thread isn’t really about whether to tax or not (both parties seem to ASSUME that that’s just supposed to happen), or how – it’s about IMHO getting some accountability into the process (I’m skeptical but you have to fight for it – it doesn’t just happen) and to get some provisions into the SOMETHING they’re going to do that will ACTUALLY help the economy.

        • Alberta

          I think it could be sold, as an idea. All sort of data is available that shows the benefits of being a desired place to make money. Tell the Joe Average that he can see an x increase in his paycheque is a good way to sell it.

          The fairtax is a tax on consumption, no? Wouldnt that ‘hurt’ and the lower income people the most?

          The point of the comment wasnt flat or fair. It was for the discussion of bold, sky tasting pie alternatives

      • NightTwister

        And for all those that say it doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell, consider this:

        1. We need to know that our conservative Representatives in Congress aren’t going to simply lay down for the next four years.

        2. We need to know what we can expect from our conservative Representatives when we take back the Majority.

        3. We need to be able to point to something tangible that is the right answer to our problems when we call our Senators and Representatives, rather than simply complaining about what the Democrats are doing.

        This is very encouraging to me, Rep. Jorday. I will be calling and writing both of my Senators and my Representative today to encourage them to support this bill.

        • NightTwister

          This should be a RedState Strike Force alert.

          • NightTwister

            A conservative Republican U.S. House member comes onto our site with a real and conservative solution to our financial problem, and he’s met with gloom and doom, woe is me, the sky is falling, everybody-hates-me-guess-I’ll-go-eat-worms.

            Look I can whine about crap that’s going on with the best of them. But this isn’t a problem that was put out here, it’s a freaking solution!!!

            If you can’t get excited, and more importantly motivated to take action about something like this, then maybe you’re in the wrong place.

            IMO, whining on a blog like this should be a bannable offense.

            /rant

          • Brian Hibbert

            What can we do to get some attention for it?

          • NightTwister

            Call them. Write them. Email them. Show up at their door with torches and pitchforks.

            Hey, I know every single center-right person on this site* wanted to call their Senator/Congressman and tell him or her exactly what they think of the Obama/Reid/Pelosi stimulus package.

            Here’s your chance to do it. And when they say,

            Ok, so do you have another idea?

            You can reply,

            I’m so glad you asked that.

            *Unless you live in Washington, D.C. If you do, well, it sucks to be you.

          • Brian Hibbert

            I’ll also contact my Senators and Rep.

            I don’t have much hope for my Senators, I’m from Illinois and I have Durbin and Blago’s pocket senator Burriss, but my Rep is a newly elected Republican so I suspect he’ll be on board.

          • NightTwister

            All of them are new to their office in the 111th Congress (including one Senator that’s never held any office before).

            Welcome to Colorado Politics, gentlelady and gentlemen. You’ll be hearing from me often.

          • Brian Hibbert

            Only 9 days after I wrote the thing.

            http://www.pjstar.com/opinions/x1255645914/Forum-Other-ways-besides-big-bailouts

            Slightly edited and trimmed a little, but given the liberal bent of the editorial board, I’m happy.

          • Praying

            I’m one of the lucky ones – I’ve got 2 GOP senators and an GOP in the house of reps – I’ve been emailing them about weekly now – I don’t want to be a pain but they are my LIFELINE right now. This is a darn good plan – the encouraging thing is the recent poll that showed 58% of Americans would be against a stimulus plan if it was all spending and no tax cuts. The dems can spend all the money they don’t have, but I think we’re finally starting to get the message – until we American’s have a chance to pay off our debt and start saving again and rebuild our confidence, we’re not going to spend money and nothing will change. The best way to get to that point is through tax cuts – and to those people who don’t pay taxes – grow up and get a real job and stop whining. This is America. Land of Opportunity. If it’s not there, create it. If you want to get a handout from some socialist government, go to Britain. I hear it’s doing real well there (not). Sorry to be harsh, but it’s time for us to accept some personal responsibility around here. Of course, preaching to the choir….

          • izoneguy

            Keep it up!

            Texas has 2 GOP Senators and a GOP Governor.
            Obama I am sure has his sights set on all three of them.
            Remember the Alamo!!

          • Steve W

            both of my Senators (one R, one D) and my Representative (a R) encouraging them to support this legislation if it ever comes before them.

            and regarding . . .

            IMO, whining on a blog like this should be a bannable offense.

            Amen and repeating, “it’s a freaking solution” – (until you come up with a better one – get behind the one that is best and stop your whining)!

          • olsmithie

            Amen brother

            Regards

        • Brian Hibbert

          Sorry about the snowball comment above. I sometimes forget that even obvious things can be better left unsaid.

          It’s a good plan and yes we need to have plans like this to point to as sensible alternatives to the stuff the Dems have proposed.

  • Steve W

    the economy – and that is through tax cuts. Stimulus checks are generally saved, or wasted – and who

  • david farrar

    I would suggest changing the following paragraph: ” We don

  • olsmithie

    I know the Senate leadership has been told not to rock the boat, don’t get the NE corridor Senators tossed out,and so forth.

    I am very pleased that you in the house are not taking that approach, nor are you listening to the naysayers and folding on your proposals.

    If a bill doesn’t have a chance of passing is not the point. The socialists in congress have the majority to pass anything they will at present, but we should continue, as you propose, to submit bills and amendments that call for a turn back to sanity.

    If a particular good bill doesn’t pass, that’s sad,but we should be proposing good bills, and opposing bad bills, not just making deals to get something passed, (ala Bob Dole.)

    Thank you for continuing to fight for sanity in the house.
    Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts with us.
    Please do so again.

    Regards