The latest edition of Max BordersIdeas Matter update features his analysis of government stimulus programs, otherwise known — in technical terms — as “thingamajig spending.”

Vote buying — the Bread and Circuses of the modern Republic — used to go under the name “stimulus.” That got a bad name because it didn’t work. Now the president has dropped the s-word and is trying to buy votes with tax breaks for small businesses. You might think an offer for tax relief would be a good thing, but it sounds like pandering to me. It’s also problematic. Here’s why:
First, small businesses need long-term tax relief. Everyone does — including large businesses.

Second, tax breaks for one class of business only creates another hole in the already Swiss-cheese-ified tax code that needs to be simplified utterly.

Third, thingamajig spending is only good if it’s part of a sustainable pattern, not a temporary infusion of the bubble sort.

But, what do you say when you’re trying to pander to a populist audience? What do you say when you want to scooch towards the center? How do you sound like you’re not a redistributionist? You talk like the Keynesian-in-Chief.