Although most of the provisions of these bills aim to benefit businesses, the tax cuts and rebates proposed make little business sense. Furthermore, they violate the trust in government that has been building since Sept. 11.

The so-called Economic Security and Recovery Act passed by the House in October is a case study in greed camouflaged by national crisis, most blatantly the provision to repeal the corporate alternative minimum tax and refund all payments since its inception in 1986. The House bill would give $1.4 billion to IBM, $1 billion to Ford, $833 million to General Motors, $671 million to General Electric, and the list goes on.

The top 14 recipients of the refund would receive $420 for every dollar they contributed to political parties in the past 10 years. Rewarding campaign donors will not stimulate our ailing economy.

The House bill also cuts the capital gains tax rate and accelerates income tax breaks that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy.

When tax cuts for the wealthy were passed last summer, their supporters said they were justified by the supposedly large budget surplus. Now, with the surplus gone, they are being rationalized as economic stimulus.

In fact, tax cuts for the wealthy will hurt economic recovery by stimulating a growing budget deficit, causing cutbacks in essential government services, and shifting more of the tax burden to low and middle income Americans.

As CEO of the Stride Rite Corp. for more than 20 years, I did not make investments based on tax breaks. The company prospered because of the demand for our product and a healthy economy. Increased consumer spending and wise public infrastructure investments are the keys to economic recovery.

If the Bush administration wants to serve the interests of business, it must understand that the well-being of business cannot be separated from the well-being of the community and the nation.

A wise investment in human capital would have large returns: It would extend unemployment and health care benefits and expand job training programs. Investing in labor-intensive public works like school construction and repair, railroads, and affordable housing would put many of the unemployed back to work, earning money to spend in the economy.

The $200 billion stimulus package proposed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus comes closest to the mark. It includes unemployment relief, job training assistance, and public works spending. These remedies would cycle money directly into the economy, increasing demand for goods and services, creating jobs, and addressing important infrastructure investments that make our economy and country healthier for the long run.

As the Senate and House resume work on the stimulus bill, they would be wise to drop the corporate welfare packages proposed to date and consider what constitutes real economic stimulus.

It's time for business leaders to drop their calls for self-serving tax breaks and instead push for stimulus measures that benefit the economy as a whole.

If Congress wants to keep faith with the American people, now is the time to invest in our long-neglected infrastructure, such as schools and better health for our children. In doing so, they would provide more employment and more disposable income, which would benefit the very companies that are seeking billion dollar handouts. The return on this kind of investment would be a stronger economy and a more secure democracy.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, ''Taxes are the price we pay for civilization.''

A civilization that we can be proud of and others would emulate.

Arnold Hiatt, former CEO of the Stride Rite Corp., is chairman of Business for Social Responsibility and chairman of the Stride Rite Foundation. Arnold Hiatt is also a member of Responsible Wealth.

© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company

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