Sarah Palin and Jennifer Granholm have more in common than you might think. the former Michigan governor once joked that they represented “the cause of hot governors.” And they both signed into law big state tax breaks for Big Hollywood.
Sarah Palin? Film welfare queen?
Actually the ex-Alaska guv goes Granholm one better: She has personally benefited from the break in her new career as a TV star. Palin is suddenly on the defensive after the Tax Foundation noted “small government crusader and Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin’s TLC reality show ‘Sarah Palin’s Alaska’ received a $1.2 million subsidy from the state of Alaska.” How, the Foundation asked, did that square with the ex-governor’s small-government principles?
Give the Tax Foundation, often dismissed as a tool of conservatives, for blowing the whistle on one of conservatism’s political darlings.
For her part, Palin offers up the same kind of response you might expect from advocates of film-producer welfare everywhere: It’s good for our state’s image and has helped to diversify the state’s economy.
Perhaps. But it’s yet another example of picking and choosing favored industries. Where does it end? “The accusation hinges on the notion that I signed the legislation into law knowing that it would personally benefit me,” adds the Hockey Mom.
Really? The Tax Foundation certainly hasn’t made that argument.
As Mark Robyn, author of the Tax Foundation blog post said, “We would be curious to know how government subsidies for reality TV fit into Palin’s broader view on the proper role of government.”
I don’t expect Sarah Palin, or any politician, to be consistent all the time, either with themselves or any set of idealized political principles. I do expect that “hypocrisy,” which seems to be the only traditional vice accepted as such these days, to be thrown around a lot.
That said, the controversy is another time to reflect on the folly of government attempts to fine-tune economic development.
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110331/MIVIEW/103310376/LaPlante–Palin–film-welfare-queen#ixzz1ICOPn6Yl