When President Obama charged that Reagan-era "trickle down economics" didn't work, not only was he wrong, but he's also wrong to think that his own trickle-down plan to grow government will stimulate the economy.

So writes Karl Rove, former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, in a recent opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal.

Analyzing the stimulus plan as it currently stands, Rove says that the pending bill is "deeply flawed." The Democrats' spending proposal “is horribly mismatched with industries that have suffered job losses,” Rove says.

Policymakers, according to Rove, are not concentrating on creating jobs in sectors that need them, such as professional and business services, construction, retail and other subsectors of the service industry.

Consequently, says Rove, "Republicans are right, both substantively and politically, to oppose this monstrosity, and smart to offer a bold alternative."

For instance, among the stimulus plan proposals is $88 billion earmarked for additional federal participation in Medicaid.

"What American will be hired by a small business, factory, retail shop, hotel, restaurant or service company because of this spending?" asks Rove. "Very few."

Despite the insistence of White House economic adviser Larry Summers that the stimulus plan must be "targeted, timely and temporary," Rove says "the bill does the opposite."

Obama and the Democrats mistakenly assume that Americans will embrace "centralized, top-down government" and are willing to pay its price, says Rove.

"They are wrong and will suffer politically for their misjudgment," he says.

Sen. John McCain criticized the bill and its writers for keeping Republican ideas out of the original House version.

"We're not having meaningful negotiations. ... It's a bad way to start," said McCain.

Obama "gave the Democrats the leeway to basically shut out Republicans starting with the House and now here in the Senate, and I don't think that's good," McCain told the AP.