Liberal hypocrisy on state taxes
Published August 12, 2014
by Brian Balfour, Civitas Review Online, August 11, 2014.
This news article about changes to NC's film industry tax credit program not only highlights the obvious, but illustrates how ridiculous progressive liberals sound when they try to argue against tax cuts.
First, the obvious. Without special tax breaks, there will be less investment in the film industry in NC. As stated by HBO series "Homeland" producer Alex Gansa in 2013: “I don’t think we would have been here if there hadn’t been tax breaks, and I believe if the tax breaks end, we’ll have to pick up and find another place to shoot.”
“I just feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me,” said Karl Golden, 50, who was a location scout for “Homeland” and now is a van driver for “Banshee.” He predicts the makers of the Cinemax show will pick up and move after they wrap this season, and that he’ll “probably file for unemployment if I don’t get the work that I need.”
So when investors see a better rate of return in other states due to a lower tax burden, those investment dollars (and the jobs that go with it) will leave NC for greener pastures. As the old saying goes: the less you tax an activity, the more of that activity there will be (and vice versa).
This must come as shocking news, however, to the liberals at the NC Budget & Tax Center (a project of the Blueprint NC-affiliated NC Justice Center). Just last year, as NC was debating tax reform, they insisted that state taxes don't matter to business investment.
A well-educated, highly productive workforce, access to markets and suppliers, sound infrastructure, and a high quality of life for employees are more important to corporate leaders than state taxes, according to numerous surveys, studies and popular rankings of “business friendly” states.
Hmmm, that's funny. Because I haven't once heard a film industry spokesperson or worker say they would stop filming in NC due to changes in the workforce, infrastructure or quality of life. Nope. Just the tax burden. I guess those "numerous surveys" didn't include film industry execs.
Of course, many progressive liberals are now lobbying to re-instate the film industry tax credits by warning us that investment in film production will go to other state's where the tax treatment is more favorable; apparently all the while completely oblivious to their self-contradiction to earlier proclamations that state taxes don't matter to investment decisions.
http://civitasreview.com
August 12, 2014 at 9:40 am
Norm Kelly says:
Thank you, Civitas for pointing out the hypocrisy of the left. They stop thinking as soon as they open their mouths. Need proof? Listen to them sometime. First they say taxes have nothing to do with investment & job growth in the state, then they tell us that without special tax incentives things like film industry people will leave the state. Then there's the sales-tax-free-weekend fiasco. They raise the sales tax, but ALLOW a single weekend of the year where SOME selected products are available without paying sales tax. How generous of them!
Then there's the whole luring business to come to the state. The state provides tax reduction incentives to get a business to move or expand here. And the deal usually includes the local government also capitulate on their tax income from said business. So, instead of having an actual level playing field that libs ALWAYS whine about/rant on and on about, they prefer playing winners & losers with OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY. When pols take MORE money from you & me & other businesses in order to pay off some company so said company will do business here, it has 2 impacts that libs refuse to talk about. In order to give tax dollars away to said company (or film industry as a whole!), they MUST tax everyone else more to make up for the shortfall. There's a shortfall because the new business and it's employees are GOING to use government services, but are NOT paying for them. So the rest of us are FORCED to pay for those services. The second way it impacts everyone is that it actually is an admission that tax rates ARE TOO HIGH such that it actually DOES discourage business from either moving here or expanding here.
Libs minds are like concrete: all mixed up and permanently set. They just hope that you don't notice how confused they are. They hope you don't object to them playing games with YOUR money.
There are 2 areas of lib life that you MUST pay attention to and object to at every opportunity. First is their desire to play games with your money. This means stealing it from you in order to give it to their preferred allies/friends. The second is that every one of their schemes is meant to garner more power for themselves. It may be true that MOST pols can't be trusted. It is absolutely true that not a single lib pol can be trusted. Members of the socialist party have proven that they will lie to you when it suits THEIR best interest. Members of the socialist party have proven that they will lie to you when their schemes are detrimental to YOUR future. Take socialized medicine, aka Obamascare, for a perfect example. The lie: you can keep your insurance if you like it. The truth: no you can't and they knew it when they said it (both the occupier and K). The lie: the average health insurance premium will go down about $2,500 per family per year. The truth: no it won't, the average health insurance premium is going up by 40% and more. Sometimes doubling; plus the out of pocket expenses have gone up. And they knew it when they told the lie. Both K & the occupier knew they were telling lies about Obamascare WHEN they were saying the words.
The question is are there enough intelligent, engaged people to change things? Are there enough people in the state to say thank you to the Republican legislators who eliminated (or reduced) the film incentives? It's just a beginning but they must be rewarded for taking the fist step. Are there enough intelligent, engaged American voters (legal of course) who will see the lies from the left and punish them at the polls? At the state AND federal levels? Are there enough concerned legal American citizens who are willing to take action AGAINST pols who desire to continue to spend us into oblivion? Are there enough concerned legal American voters who will punish pols for their desire to increase the power of Washington and decrease personal liberties? If the Civitas organization continues to document the confusion, misleading, and schemes of the left, then the answer just might be YES. If enough people ignore the used-to-be-main stream media when they talk about the TEA people, then the answer might be YES.
I applaud the Civitas organization. I encourage you to continue the upstream fight and continue to print the truth.
