George W. Bush insisted last Friday that he understood "the politics of economic stimulus" while admitting that "some would like to turn this into class warfare". The president is right on both counts.

The 10-year $674bn (£420bn) economic plan that Mr Bush proposed yesterday in Chicago is alarmingly ambitious. It would speed up income tax rate cuts scheduled for 2006, increase child credits, extend unemployment benefits, establish generous new depreciation rules for business, and eliminate taxes on dividends. The last measure, accounting for about half the cost of the package, has got all the attention, and deservedly so. It is the plan's coup de grâce and its raison d'être.