GOP Split on Alternative Stimulus

Republican faithful were heartened by the GOP's impressive display of unity on Wednesday in which a grand total of zero House Republicans voted for President Obama's stimulus plan. While Republicans managed to take the bipartisan sheen off the proposal, their simple "no" vote masks deeper divisions over what policies to offer regarding the economy instead. Republican politicians have proposed a variety of alternatives, mostly involving some combination of tax cuts, but none have gained consensus and it appears that Senate Republicans might buck their House counterparts and get behind an even larger, more bipartisan bill. "There is not a coherent Republican message at this moment," lobbyist Vin Weber, a former GOP House member from Minnesota, told the Baltimore Sun.