<Tax cut legislation to stimulate the economy is following the same well-worn paths. The House bill would fast-track the existing tax cuts (which should have been done in the first place) and pump more money into businesses. This, of course, has Democrats in a lather, and they have countered with a bill that is primarily additional spending.

I am more and more convinced that leftists advocate certain positions not because they are well thought out, or workable, but because their thought processes have ossified to the point where they are physically incapable of altering their viewpoints regardless of the conditions.

How else to explain leftists standing in front of flag-waving crowds and spewing anti-American claptrap when they ought to know that they will be crucified for it? It isn't bravery: they don't stand there defiant in the face of the boos and jeers. They are honestly shocked that the same formulas are not getting the standard formulaic responses they have enjoyed for years.

Democrats in the Congress are no different, clinging to the truly mind-boggling notion that large corporations, businesses, and investors have nothing whatsoever to do with how well an economy is doing, and there is no reason at all to take some of the tax burden away from them.

I'm terribly sorry to have to point this out, but it is the productive segment of an economy that drives growth, not the consumer end. The recent tax rebate was good news (every nickel taken from Ted Kennedy and his crew is a net victory), but it did not have nearly the positive economic impact that an upper-bracket cut or a capital gains cut would have.

I used to believe that the Democrats knew that large-scale tax cuts would work, and that having this unmistakably demostrated would mean the death knell of the Democratic Party, so they fought it to maintain power. I now am beginning to think that they have not thought about it at all, that these attitudes are simply old concepts that have worn deep ruts in what is left of their minds, and the same ideas will come out regardless of the facts.

So we have seen, and will continue to see:

- Opposition to any tax relief for businesses during an economic downturn

- Opposition to energy exploration and nuclear power during an era of energy shortages and while importing oil from potential enemies

- Opposition to the military during a war situation

- Opposition to missile defense in the face of a demonstrated willingness on the part of our enemies to use weapons of mass destruction regardless of potential retaliation

Like the "peaceniks" who continue to dig themselves into ever deeper holes in public, I predict that most of the Democrats in Washington will continue to pump out the same tired old 1960's rhetoric, 90 percent of which is simple opposition to whatever the Republicans come up with. It's not going to be pretty.