David Brooks’s Republican-Panic-Meter is off the charts this week. In the past year, Brooks regularly checks to see the Republican party still has a pulse and determines whether or not a crash cart is needed. Code Blue!

Brooks applies the paddles by fishing around for a new domestic agenda for the Republican Party.

Second, a human capital agenda leads to policies that cut across left and right. At the very least, it means preserving low income-tax rates, which cause people to work harder and develop their capacities. It means creating high-quality preschools for children from disorganized single-parent homes. It means giving parents more school choice so they can take advantage of the information they now have about failing schools thanks to No Child Left Behind.

It means increasing child tax credits to reduce economic stress on young families. It means encouraging marriage, the best educational institution we have. It means a national service program, so young people can experience the world.

I’m not sure how you can increase human capital, while keeping the income tax cuts. Universal pre-school alone is a big ticket item. His list, while rather skimpy and under-funded, isn’t bad. Ideas?