THAT’S DEBATABLE:

President Bush and congressional Democrats appear to be crafting dueling measures to stimulate a weakening economy. Both sides favor some sort of tax cuts, but they differ on who should get them.

What do you think Congress and the president should do to help the sluggish economy recover?

In my opinion, we should avoid having government “do something” just to show we are “doing something” if that “something” does not help.

Some of the proposals that have already passed the House will actually further dry up the already restricted credit markets and would actually make things worse.

Instead, we should take some actions aimed directly at improving the availability of credit, like adjusting the “jumbo” loan limit on home loans (now $417,000 nationwide) and allow it to rise in high-cost markets like Orange County.

We should also take a look at the credit rating agencies and how they operate.

On a macro level, tax cuts should free up the movement of capital flows again and encourage investment that will create jobs.

One idea for this would be to exempt from tax any capital gains income that only represents the increase in inflation over the period of time the asset was held.

An action such as this would likely trigger several transactions that would create an economic stimulus.

John Campbell

(R-Newport Beach)

Rule No. 1: Don’t raise taxes for anyone. Rule No. 2: Any taxes lowered should be done to provide the widest possible benefit rather than picking a winner or loser.

Dana Rohrabacher

(R-Huntington Beach)