Stephen Miller: “I hear today we are about to have a funeral, that the stimulus bill is on life support, and that the plug will be pulled…”

“I hear today we are about to have a funeral, that the stimulus bill is on life support, and that the plug will be pulled sometime today. The cause of death? Partisan politics. It is a shame, although perhaps the money can now be applied to the deficit, which has concerned some of us, and we will be closer to a balanced budget. The soon-to-be-deceased could have been saved. We had a reasonable compromise right before we adjourned for Christmas. The President supported it. Some Democrats, including this one, supported it. It had a majority of the votes in the Senate. Right now, if it had passed, it could have already been signed, the rebates could be being prepared, a reasonable health care benefit could have been a reality--such promise. Who was it who wrote that the saddest words of word or pen are that it might have been--something like that? This week we could have made the tax cut permanent. We could have added a capital gains tax cut. That is what Senator Gramm and I have advocated for some time. No one ever stated so well how powerful an effect a cut in the capital gains tax could have on the economy as a Democrat, President John F. Kennedy. I quote: The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions . . . the mobility and flow of risk capital from static to more dynamic situations . . . the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital . . . and thereby the strength and potential for growth of the economy.…”