Don’t Shame Businesses for Taking Government Money

The Paycheck Protection Program, passed into law last spring and transformed into a government program in matter of days, has been under fire almost since its inception. Critics first charged that it was too slow, too complex and failed to get funds to the small businesses that needed it. More recently, as information about recipients has become available, the criticism has focused on the larger companies, wealthy celebrities and politically connected firms that got federal aid.

All this was a foreseeable consequence of its kludgy design. Nonetheless, many of these critiques are wholly unhelpful. They do nothing to expand aid to struggling businesses that still need it. Worse, they may encourage Congress to add another layer of supervision to an already unwieldy program.