Looks like he's going to go for gold in the economic plan, i.e. big tax cuts, but am reserving more comment until I get more details.

The Associated Press, imagine my surprise, describes it only in terms of what this will "cost" the government:

Bush Economic Stimulus Could Cost $600B



WACO, Texas - President Bush has signed onto key provisions of an economic stimulus package whose price tag could reach $600 billion over a decade, administration officials say. Aides had previously put the likely 10-year cost at about $300 billion.



Natually, the mainstream press will follow this lead. The people who control the language control the debate. Unless Bush can show that this is $600 billion kept out of the hands of government and going into economic growth, instead of the picture the Democrats are trying to paint of $600 billion somehow "lost," he's going to have trouble.

It goes without saying that the Democrats are not going to like this at all, at all. The only tax cuts they like are cuts to people who don't pay any taxes ("Well, what do you know? That didn't 'cost' the government much at all, did it?") The rhetoric cannons are being loaded as I type this, and the usual parrotspeak will be fired out. If I could figure out a way to give the leftists in Congress an electric shock every time the phrase "tax cuts for the rich" is uttered, the Senate and House chambers would look like fleas on a griddle.

On the other hand, I can't think of any tax cut that Bush could propose where the Democrats would say, "Wow! That's brilliant! We support Bush all the way!" so he might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.

It should be remembered that most of the Democratic Party would cheerfully saw their own arms off with a rusty bread knife to see the economy in the toilet in November of 2004. It goes without saying that they will support policies that will tend to have this result, and fight policies that would drastically improve the economy on the Republicans' watch.

In fact, if ANYTHING good happens in the next two years, it's going to be tough to credit anyone but the Republicans. Conversely, if anything bad happens, it's going to be tough to blame anyone else.

Keep that in mind as the debate kicks in.