The Republican Party has always been the party of big business. It was formed in the middle of the Industrial Revolution, was strengthened during the Civil War, and controlled the Executive Branch with 13 out of 18 Presidents between 1861 and 1961. The agricultural economy of the South was unsustainable without slavery and was shattered during the Civil War. The economic center of the country became the Northeast. Politicians of the day were bought and sold by monied power brokers, and when elected, unabashedly, obeyed their masters. Theodore Roosevelt was an anathema to his party because he wanted "every man to have a square deal." His "trust-busting", his setting aside of 150 million acres of land into national parks, and other reforms caused his [essential] expulsion from the Republican Party.
Republicans today are demanding additional tax breaks for corporations even though these gifts have not altered the direction of our economy over the past eight years. They are taking advantage of an administration that is being bipartisan to improve the country while they are not. They brag about being obstructionist and, I believe, are laughing at Obama behind his back!
Their rallying cry today, as it was before, is that John Kennedy implemented tax breaks when the economy was in a funk, and it worked. The difference is that in the 60s, businesses invested that money in their business facilities which were actually in the U.S. Today that money is spent on business facilities which are in countries outside the U.S. and does not create any jobs here at home. That is, of course, if the funds are spent on the business at all vs. being given to a CEO because the company was more profitable.
Republicans know that putting money into the hands of the populace stimulates the economy because, when the chips were down, they practiced that economic model: $600 tax rebates in 2001 followed by another round of the same in 2008. This is proof that they know what does and does not work. Thus their current demand for additional tax breaks is simply obeisance to their masters and a demand of payment for their vote.