Details are emerging on the What and How of the imminent economic stimulus recovery package.

The latest -- and perhaps most surprising -- figure to be associated with the legislation is a $300 billion tax cut. Over two years, the total cost of the bill, which may include massive infrastructure spending and state aid, could be $775 billion. The tax cut portion of the bill would be targeted to individuals who pay income taxes and businesses. And the scale of the tax cuts would best Bush's 2001 and 2003 cuts.

Mr. Bush's 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut of 2001, considered the largest in history, contained $174 billion of cuts during its first two full years, according to Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation. The second-largest tax cut -- the 10-year, $350 billion package engineered by Mr. Bush in 2003 -- contained $231 billion in 2004 and 2005.

I'd be lying if I said I was totally comfortable with this. Economic stimulus legislation should do two things: 1) Stimulate the economy and 2) provide assistance to the hardest hit. While tax cuts for individuals can accomplish (2), there are more efficient ways of accomplishing (1). The economic results of the tax rebates issued in 2008 were mixed, and tax cuts for businesses are the least efficient means to putting the economy back on track.

And while timing is critical here, so is taking the time to craft a more effective bill. So, I'm glad House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) is showing a modicum of concern as to how much and on what economic recovery funds should be spent:

"It's going to be very difficult to get the package put together that early so that it can have sufficient time to be reviewed, and then sufficient time to be debated and passed," Hoyer, D-Md., said on "Fox News Sunday." "But we certainly want to see this package passed through the House of Representatives no later than the end of this month, get it over to the Senate, and have it to the president before we break for the presidential break." Congress goes on a week hiatus the week of Feb. 16.