Is it hypocritical to denounce a tax credit that you personally take? I don’t think I agree with View editor Henry Payne, who says “it’s important for us film credit critics to differentiate between hypocrite profiteers like Michael Moore – who applies for Michigan film credits even as he denounces corporate tax breaks – and simply misguided supporters of tax breaks for corporate fat cats.”
Moore may be a hypocrite, though not for taking advantage of a tax credit for which he qualifies. That’s just accepting reality–just as is, say, saying that Social Security should be abolished while still taking a check when the time comes.
What would be unseemly, though, is for Moore to denounce corporate tax breaks generally and then engage in special pleading that his own industry receive tax breaks. Has he spoken out on Michigan’s misguided attempt to pursue economic development through giving special favors to filmmakers? Perhaps so; I just don’t know. Anyone have knowledge of Moore’s film festival in Traverse City and what sort of sweetheart deal, if any, it gets?
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