TW: The Republicans put some (stringy) meat on the bones of their budget alternative. It was all predictable and so status quo as to make one wonder if they think what is going on presently a mere blip on the road to Arthur Laffer's great supply side nirvana. Their budget nets out as follows:
1) Retain the W. Bush tax cuts for the wealthy
2) Cut corporate taxes
3) Cut capital gains taxes (but only for two years which btw would one have no impact since net gains will be minimal during that period, if you are lucky enough to have some you will probably be able to carry forward losses from the last year or so and two mean they are merely understating the long-term impact because they would almost certainly want to extend the break beyond 2010 but that would require a level of fiscal honestly not consistent with their habits, it does one thing it allows the Republicans to say they are "cutting" another tax and "investing in America")
4) Freeze non-defense and non-entitlement spending (i.e. they freeze all of the stuff that represents less than 10% of the total spend, an old and tired Republican gambit)
5) No cap and trade and they retain oil tax breaks Obama is eliminating
6) NO stimulus beyond unemployment benefits
In other words, they suggest extending W. Bush's 2008 budget indefinitely into the future. It is Hooverite (i.e. no stimulus not even significant tax cuts) amidst the worse contraction in 75 years. It does nothing to address inequality, the environment or the real medium and long-term fiscal challenges associated with defense and entitlement spending. It is as if the current crisis is a mirage and the long-term crises spawning the current severe contraction a chimera. These people have their heads up their respective posteriors.
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