Starve-the-beast proponents have a point. There is waste in government, and by following their wishes, we eliminate some of it. But most government programs exist because voters want them. The ones most likely to be cut are those with the least influential supporters, which are not always the most worthy targets.

Anti-government rhetoric, meanwhile, takes a toll. American prosperity reflects a historical tradition of good government, an advantage we should be loath to squander. But good government doesn’t just happen. It must be nurtured. Capable civil servants who take pride in their work are a prerequisite for it, and anti-government talk surely doesn’t make it any easier to recruit such people.

EVEN a broken clock is right twice a day, so the notion that starving the beast is a bad strategy doesn’t imply that its proponents are wrong about everything. With the economic recovery clearly sputtering, could they be correct to insist that the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy be extended?

Alas, no. All the Bush tax cuts are set to expire on Dec. 31. Because most poor and middle-income families consume their entire income, higher tax rates for those families would indeed deprive the economy of much-needed short-run stimulus. But extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest families would be one of the worst possible ways to stimulate spending. These families typically consume much less than their income. Instead of trying to use up all their savings before they die, most prefer to leave substantial bequests. Letting their tax cuts expire might reduce those bequests, but it will not reduce their current consumption significantly.

It will, however, generate revenue that could be used to bolster spending in a host of ways that would be useful even apart from the stimulus effects. Because state and local government budgets are in shambles, hundreds of teachers, police officers and firefighters are being laid off every week. Federal grants could keep them on the job.

States around the country have also been allowing thousands of miles of asphalt roads to deteriorate back to gravel, even as skilled workers and heavy equipment stand idly by. The eventual bill for repaving those roads will add much more to deficits than if we had maintained them properly in the first place.

To bolster current spending without adding more to deficits than necessary, we have no better option than to let the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy expire as scheduled.