Pragmatism.

Bowing to widespread Democratic skepticism, President-elect Barack Obama will drop his bid to include a business tax break he once touted in the economic stimulus bill now taking shape on Capitol Hill, aides said last night.

I dunno about the whole "abuse" angle quoted in the article, mostly because I didn't bother to know the specifics of the tax break, but this is a smart move. Consider me one of those skeptics, except of course that I had absolutely no say in the matter.

There's three simple reasons why this was a bad idea:

1. There is absolutely no guarantee businesses receiving tax breaks will spend that money for the reason it was given to them in the first place. Just like you and me, our priorities will not always match the government's. In fact, only a stupid business would hire more workers to produce more of what people are not buying.

2. There is a less than 1:1 ratio for spending and tax breaks dollars, particularly in a stimulus situation. I'd be happy to talk about the long term effects of reduction of restrictive taxes, but the whole reason we're spending money now is to see immediate effects.

3. The problem at hand is too big, and the resources of the Federal government too small, to waste money on anything less than efforts that will maximize returns on the dollar. The most efficient way to add jobs is to increase demand, namely by buying things. Since the consumer can no longer do so, the government has to.