Anybody Know Which Way Up? : Republicans and Democrats play politics while the economy freezes over

President Bush wanted to wait until January before offering his own ideas to stimulate the economy, but the timetable may no longer be under his control. Thanks to (1) goading from House Republicans, (2) a seeming lack of coherence in White House domestic policy and (3) a move by angry House Democratic leaders to seize the political advantage that Bush almost casually extended to them, congressional committees will probably be back at work next month, bickering over two partisan economic packages.

Play began late last week, when House Republicans released their economic ideas, central to which is a reduced capital gains tax intended to encourage business investment. This package, says House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.), could cost the Treasury as much as $23 billion, but House Republican Whip Newt Gingrich of Georgia says it would pay for itself, mainly by boosting economic activity. Had that been all there was to it, the Republican package would simply have been noted and filed, pending release of Bush’s own plan in January. But there was more. The Republicans demanded an immediate vote on their ideas.

Democrats were fully prepared to ignore that demand. But at a White House photo session this week, Bush was asked what he thought of the GOP program. “Put me down enthusiastically for it,” he said. Why? Because Congress has “been here all year long, and the economy’s in trouble.” That off-the-cuff response, to venture an understatement, did not leave the President looking particularly good. For if he is “enthusiastically” for the GOP package and an immediate vote on it, and if he believes “the economy’s in trouble,” then why is he delaying his own economic proposals for two months? In effect, Bush seemed to be conceding leadership on tax policy to House Republicans. In fact, he created an opening into which Foley and Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, quickly plunged.

The plan now is for early hearings in December on a tax bill. But the bill that Democrats want is their own election-year one, which would give most working Americans a modest tax break, to be paid for by a bigger tax bracket for high-income filers and a 10% surtax on the very rich. That’s not, need it be said, what the House Republicans or Bush had in mind when they threw down the gauntlet.

It would be a good idea at this point for everyone to back off and drop the schoolyard taunts and challenges. Tax policy, inherently complex and far-reaching in its consequences, is not something to be legislated in a fit of pique or a burst of partisanship. An economic stimulation package may well be needed, but a package motivated by opportunism and gamesmanship is not likely to do the country a lot of good.