The situation calls for a principled opposition. Some Republican leaders offer a me-too approach. This tact accepts President Obama's premises, e.g., that America needs a massive federal spending blitz to stimulate the economy, but quibbles over the pricetag. Florida Senator Mel Martinez has devised a $700 billion stimulus package. The bulk of it is comprised of tax cuts (which these days has come to encompass rebates to people who don't pay federal taxes), but it also includes about $300 billion in federal spending. The federal government needs to imitate the taxpayers who feed it by tightening its belt. After a wild federal spending binge that included the most expensive piece of legislation in world history, the economy has gotten worse, not better. Now Republicans such as Senator Martinez want to administer more of the medicine that made America sick in the first place. They will harm the American economy, and their party, should they suceed. When offered Democrat and Democrat-lite, the American people will opt for the real thing over a pale imitator every time.