A stimulus stinker.

Byline: The Register-Guard

More than two months have passed since the Republican-controlled House approved an economic stimulus package. That bill relied heavily on tax cuts to spur the nation's ailing economy and doled out tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks to huge corporations.

The measure was a shameless giveaway to corporate America and never had a prayer in the Senate.

Then last month, the Democratic-controlled Senate attempted to pass its own stimulus bill, one that provided more generous unemployment and health benefits for the out-of-work and that put money in the hands of those who most need it - everyday American workers and small businesses. The measure failed. The Republicans and Democrats - and the House and Senate - have been snarling and clawing over a compromise ever since.

Now time is running out before Congress adjourns for the year. Congressional Republicans, with President Bush leading the charge, are making a final major push to pass an economic recovery package.

GOP leaders have improved slightly on their earlier bill by giving ground on unemployment benefits, agreeing not only to extend current unemployment benefits by 13 weeks but also to increase the amount of benefits and the number of workers eligible to receive them. That's a welcome concession, but it's outweighed by an astonishing array of new tax cuts for individuals and businesses.

For starters, Republicans want to advance the effective dates of many of the tax cuts that Congress should never have passed in the first place last spring and that mostly benefit the "haves" rather than the "have-nots." Even with the new effective dates, the payouts to businesses would not occur until after next year when economists predict a recovery will already be well under way.

Then there are the retroactive corporate tax cuts. Under the new GOP bill, corporations would receive a refund of what they paid for the past 15 years under the alternative minimum tax, a Reagan-era provision enacted to ensure that businesses can't climb through enough loopholes to escape all taxation. Corporations ranging from General Motors to Enron - yes, even Enron - would receive tens of millions of dollars in back taxes in exchange for doing absolutely nothing. No need to build new plants, hire more workers or meet environmental standards. All they would have to do is hold out their palms and wait for the handout.

Then there's the proposed 30 percent, three-year tax write-off on new equipment. Not only would this have no immediate stimulative effect, but dozens of states, including Oregon, would stand to lose millions of dollars in taxes because of changes in the way deductions for capital investments would be calculated.

Republicans also are seeking an accelerated drop in the income tax rate, cutting the 27 percent rate to 25 percent in 2002 and benefitting the top 25 percent of taxpayers. They're proposing a two-year voucher-credit health care plan, a proposal that GOP leaders concede is aimed not at stimulating the economy or helping laid-off workers but at shifting the current health-care system away from employer-paid coverage.

The president and GOP leaders in Congress are warning that they intend to blame Democrats for the nation's struggling economy during next year's elections if the new bill fails to pass. That's a serious threat, especially for lawmakers from states such as Oregon, which currently has the nation's worst unemployment rate and has yet to see significant signs that the economy is improving.

But Democrats shouldn't be swayed. American voters are savvy enough to understand that this new economic stimulus plan is little more than a Santa's bag stuffed with tax breaks long coveted by corporations and wealthy contributors.