The Wall Street Journal had an interesting item today on what the paper called the “cracks in [tag]Republican[/tag] [tag]unity[/tag].” As the article described it, Republicans saw the way Dems fought amongst themselves when they were in the majority, so the GOP has “ruled since with a remarkable discipline” — until now. They’re at each other’s throats over immigration, spending, tax cuts, and the coming campaign season.
It’s probably a pretty familiar tale at this point, but the article included one anecdote that had me chuckling. Apparently, House GOP leaders hosted a press conferences on their latest tax-cut bill, with a [tag]photo-op[/tag] intended to show how much [tag]tax cuts[/tag] for dividends and capital gains stimulate the economy. The point was to showcase a Republican electrical contractor from Virginia as proof of a “real human success story” behind the numbers.
Once the bound parchment was signed by Mr. Hastert and Sen. Ted Stevens (R., Alaska), contractor [tag]John Biagas[/tag] was to accompany House clerks to the White House with the bill. But from the start, things went awry. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R., Iowa) failed to attend and, as it turned out, the likable Mr. Biagas owes much of his business success to government spending, not tax cuts.
More than two-thirds of the top 30 projects listed on the Web site of his company, Bay Electric Co. in Newport News, Va., are with the military or federal agencies. Bay Electric also has benefited from small-business set-asides for minority-owned firms from depressed areas. When asked whether the tax cuts or government contracts were more important to his success, Mr. Biagas says, “It’s a little bit of both.” But the tax break he touted during the ceremony didn’t deal with capital gains, but rather a provision allowing faster write offs of equipment purchases.
So, the moral of the story is government spending can stimulate the economy, and Republicans can’t find any “real human success stories” as a result of their capital gains tax cuts. That’s a great election-year message, right?
For that matter, it’s worth noting that Hastert really hasn’t had any luck at all at GOP photo-ops lately. A few weeks ago, the House Speaker was spotted riding off in a very fuel-efficient, hydrogen-powered car — only to be photographed a block later abandoning the car for his SUV.
In a few weeks, Hastert will break the congressional record as the longest-serving Republican Speaker ever. The way things are going, he won’t have to worry about keeping his record up in January.