The Wall Street Journal-20080128-No Wonder Republicans Lost Control of Congress

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No Wonder Republicans Lost Control of Congress

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The analysis presented by former Rep. Bill Thomas and Alex Brill ("No Stimulus Gimmicks, Please," op-ed, Jan. 18) offer a good reason why the Republicans lost control of Congress. Their analysis may seem "reasonable" to them, but to some of us, it is timid, if not outright cowardly. Their idea to let the Fed stimulate the economy harks dangerously back to the days of Jimmy Carter and his Fed chiefs, Arthur Burns and G. William Miller. The rationale then was essentially "let the good times roll."

Unfortunately, it took two recessions before the subsequent Fed chiefs were able to control the 10% and 12% inflation rates. A rate cut would no doubt be beneficial, but to say stimulus is best provided by a lot of looser money forgets history.

A more powerful stimulus would be cuts to income and corporate tax rates. This should include reducing the capital gains tax to zero. The economic activity resulting from the incentives these cuts would provide would put the economy on solid ground again. Better still would be a radical reform of the tax code to some sort of flat tax, but that's for another piece.

To be sure, passing such sweeping legislation takes time, and in the current environment on Capitol Hill it faces massive Democratic opposition. But to give up the fight, as Messrs. Thomas and Brill seem to suggest, is to give up an issue that Republicans have won elections with -- namely, tax cuts. So what if the Democrats oppose these kinds of tax cuts? It's an election year, right? Can't that opposition be made part of the campaign? Shouldn't it be? Messrs. Thomas and Brill, you should push for across-the-board tax cuts now, not throw up the white flag.

Chris Warden

Troy, Ala.