It is clear from recent headlines that the economic downturn that started last year has accelerated and deepened since the September 11th terrorist attacks. Even before the attacks, Oregon had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Demand for food assistance is overwhelming charities and the food stamp program. Workers are losing health insurance. Small businesses are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

The U.S. economy needs strong medicine to recover. However, the $274 billion (over 10 years) economic stimulus plan recently approved by the House of Representatives is poorly targeted and will do little to help the economy or workers.

One of the most egregious provisions of the House-passed stimulus plan is the retroactive repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT). The corporate AMT was signed into law by President Reagan to close loopholes that allowed many corporations with billions in profits to avoid paying income taxes.

Repealing the corporate AMT will channel $25 billion in immediate tax rebates to profitable companies like Ford (which will receive $2.4 billion), IBM ($1.4 billion), and Enron ($254 million). The corporate tax rebates are more than twice as large as the $13.7 billion in rebates provided to individuals in the House leadership plan.

Even conservative columnist and CNN host Robert Novak called the corporate AMT repeal a "corporate grant that is not the proper direction for tax or economic policy."

The House leadership plan also included $20 billion in tax cuts for the overseas operations of financial services companies. In effect, big corporations are being rewarded for not investing in the U.S. How can that help provide jobs and needed economic stimulus at home?

The House Republican leaders' stimulus plan includes billions in permanent capital gains tax reductions that are very expensive, thus wreaking havoc with the federal budget, but will provide no immediate economic stimulus. In fact, it could actually damage the economy by encouraging a sell-off of stocks and other appreciated assets. A capital gains tax cut will provide no assistance to 80 percent of Americans. Rather, it will disproportionately benefit those making more than $384,000, which are the same individuals who received the bulk of the benefits from the tax cut approved earlier this year.

Just as importantly, changes in federal tax laws often have implications for state revenues. The provisions in the House leadership plan will cost state treasuries $5 billion a year at a time when many states, including Oregon, are facing drastic cuts to important programs.

Given all of the problems with the House leadership plan, I decided to join my colleagues in the Progressive Caucus in drafting an alternative economic stimulus plan. Our plan would have expanded eligibility for unemployment assistance, increased the benefits received, and lengthened the duration of benefits. Our plan included a strong job training component and assistance to maintain health insurance benefits. We also proposed billions of dollars in spending to repair and upgrade our crumbling infrastructure, including funding for Amtrak and high speed rail, drinking and waste water systems, and helping local communities with school construction. Our plan reinstated a state revenue sharing program to provide vital assistance to states like Oregon that may be forced to cut education and other essential programs. Finally, the Progressive Caucus plan included tax rebates for Americans left out of the original round of tax cuts.

Our alternative was fiscally responsible. It fully protected Social Security and maintained our commitment to paying down the national debt. The spending and tax cuts in our plan were offset by postponing a portion of the tax cuts passed earlier this year for the top one percent of taxpayers. By contrast, all the funds in the stimulus plan pushed by the House leadership would come from the Social Security Trust Fund, which is funded by a regressive flat tax on wages up to $80,400. In essence, the House leadership plan would shift billions of dollars in payroll taxes from our paychecks into the coffers of some of the largest multinational businesses. That not only jeopardizes the future of Social Security, it is patently unfair to workers.

While our alternative was blocked from being considered on the House floor, a similar plan offered by the Democratic leadership was defeated. However, there is still hope Congress will approve a decent plan since the Senate has yet to act.

Congress must approve a fiscally responsible economic stimulus package that provides immediate assistance for workers, creates jobs, supports small businesses, and improves the long-run prospects for our economy, while protecting Social Security and Medicare. The House-approved plan fails on all counts.