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UPDATE JANUARY 29 1030PM! Larry Kudlow echoes senator Richard Shelby here in Kudlow’s “Shelve the Stimulus” on NRO– “Mr. Shelby believes the credit crunch remains the biggest obstacle to economic recovery. Later in the day when I interviewed Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, he agreed with Shelby that the stimulus plan should be shelved. For the first time — as far as I know — McConnell pledged to vote no on the package. Instead he wants larger tax cuts and smaller spending. McConnell might be willing to change his mind if the package changes, but he told me he didn’t expect that to happen.”

UPDATE JANUARY 29! “An act of generational theft” By Michelle Malkin  •  January 29, 2009 09:52 PM “Here are two staunch conservatives in the Senate who are looking out for you. U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn weighed in Thursday against a massive package of spending and tax cuts designed to stimulate the economy.”  Click here for entire Malkin post.

Last Tally Against ‘Stimulus’ Bill Doesn’t Tell Whole Story

As we wrote here all but one Republican (who did not vote), as well as 11 Democrats (including Maryland’s Frank Kratovil) voted here against H. R. 1  — a.k.a. “The European Social Welfare State Bill,” which passed the House last evening 244-188.

The House Republicans (joined by eleven ostensibly fiscally conservative Democrat members, nine of them apparently Blue Dog Democrats) have effectively distanced themselves (at least thus far) from ownership of this megaton spending and regulatory measure.

But this is not the whole story.

The House Republican leadership put forward their own alternative to coping with the economic downturn and resulting unemployment:  the Camp Amendment here providing for major tax cuts as a genuinely effective boost to the economy.  The proposal failed by a vote of 266-170 here.

Only two Democrats (both members of the Blue Dog Coalition) voted aye, neither of whom was the good Mr. Kratovil, who voted no.

Not surprisingly, Virginia’s Frank Wolf was the only Republican from the Old Dominion (and one of only nine nationally) voting against the Camp-Cantor Substitute–providing major tax cuts–which offered a serious alternative to H.R. 1.

The defining test for the House Republican leadership, however, will be the number of their own members who vote against the conference report ironing out the differences between the two chambers.  Reports today’s Washington Post:

“Some moderate Republicans who opposed the bill left open the chance of supporting the final version if the White House and Senate address their concerns about spending. And Democrats remain hopeful of securing a more bipartisan result in the Senate, where committee action has driven up the cost as the amount of tax relief has increased, something Republicans have demanded before they will consider offering their support.”

We wish we were more optimistic about the Senate GOP leadership developing a common pro-growth position as an alternative to the Administration’s so-called “stimulus” package.

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