GOP should embrace president’s good ideas

President Obama's Thursday jobs speech contained a number of bad and costly ideas, many of which have already been tried and found ineffective. But it also contained some good ideas. Republicans should embrace them.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., is right when he says the best approach may be for Congress to sidestep Mr. Obama's "all-or-nothing" approach, instead identifying parts of the proposal that can win the support of Republicans who agree with the president's earlier admission that only private business can create jobs in the numbers needed to accelerate recovery. The House should pass those pro-business, pro-job proposals as stand-alone bills and forward them promptly to the Democratic Senate.

"I mean, when you start talking about tax relief for small business owners," Mr. Cantor said, "that's something that we've been talking about for several years now. When you start talking about streamlining bureaucracy ... fine."

The president also said, "Pass this jobs bill, and all small-business owners will ... see their payroll taxes cut in half next year. If you have 50 employees making an average salary, that's an $80,000 tax cut. ... You should pass it right away."

So Congress should take up the president on this offer, cutting in half the amount American businesses are asked to deduct and match from their workers' paychecks. The New York Times reports that amounts to a $240 billion tax cut. So pass it. Pass it right away.

"I'll also offer ideas to reform a corporate tax code that stands as a monument to special-interest influence in Washington," the president said. "By eliminating pages of loopholes and deductions, we can lower one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world."

Good. Pass it right away.

On federal regulations, the president acknowledged, "There are some rules and regulations that put an unnecessary burden on businesses," which should be eliminated.

"What we can't do," he then added, "is let this economic crisis be used as an excuse to wipe out the basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades. I reject the idea that we need to ask people to choose between their jobs and their safety."

But that's a false choice. "No one is suggesting that any basic protections be erased," says James Gattuso at the Heritage Foundation. "Instead the pressing need now is to stop the tidal wave of regulation -- costing almost $40 billion -- that has swamped Americans and the economy since the president was elected. From light bulbs to the Internet, from guitars to health care, Washington has imposed new rules. It is time to stem this flow."

So do it. The House should pass a blanket requirement that all federal agencies roll back the cost of the regulations they're enforcing at least to 2007 levels. Do it right away.

Go ahead, pass the proposals that make sense. Then, if the president and the Democratic Senate decide to block the president's own tax-cutting, regulation-slashing proposals, voters should ask them, "Why not do it right away?"