[Stardust]

As Congress is feverishly taking up a stimulus package, I hope it doesn’t do the dumb across-the-board tax stimulus. The last such initiative had a negligible result because folks rationally paid down debt or augmented their savings. With many in the grip of even more fear, there is no reasonable prospect that such unfocused tax cuts will get spent.

The smart tax approach is to advance President-elect Barack Obama’s stated agendas by using targeted tax strategies to encourage talented college students to become teachers; to better prepare those in that critical profession to increase the cohort of primary care doctors in increasingly short supply; to tip the balance of consumer decisions in favor of significantly more gas-efficient cars during this temporary lull in gas prices; and to support math and science and education at all levels.

These smart approaches can’t be fashioned in a hurry. I hope many will write their congressional representatives right away to urge the smart thing.