That is, he would if he had the ability to think coherently and extend his appreciation of things right in front of his face to his perception of things in general. In recent statements on the local news channel New York 1, the actor Alec Baldwin pleaded for tax breaks that are provided to film and TV production companies in New York to be continued, in the name of business, jobs and overall revenue for the state and city.

In an interview on “The Road to City Hall,” actor Alec Baldwin is calling on state leaders to renew a tax credit for the TV and film industry.

The star of the NBC comedy “30 Rock” told NY1 political anchor Dominic Carter that without the tax break, TV programs that are produced locally will pack up and move to Hollywood.

“If these tax breaks, I’m telling you right now, if these tax breaks are not reinstated into the budget, film production in this town is going to collapse and television production is going to collapse and it’s all going to go to California,” said Baldwin.

The story and part of the segment can be found at this link.

In the full segment, which I watched when it aired, Baldwin explained that giving these film and TV production companies tax breaks did not actually cost the state of New York money, but instead was a net money maker for the state of New York. How could such a thing be? Simple: By keeping taxes low and encouraging the business activity of film and television production companies in New York, much more private money ultimately gets spent in New York. People get hired, equipment is purchased and rented, restaurants and hotels receive additional customers, and on and on. All of those things are subject to their own taxes, to one degree or another. Therefore encouraging the business of film and TV production in New York, by means of tax breaks, increases the overall revenue going into New York state and city coffers.

Eureka! Alec Baldwin has worked in movies and television long enough to know the realities of that business, clearly. His take on this question is exactly right. The truly astounding and flummoxing thing is his apparent inability to see how the same principle applies across the board in the economy in general. Taxes disincentivise the taxed activity. Tax cuts (or at least the retention of an already-low tax) incentivise the relevant activity. I have to assume that Alec Baldwin cannot see how that principle also holds true in the economy-at-large, because otherwise he would obviously not be such a well-known supporter of President Obama and the Democratic party generally.

Our economy is in nothing less than a death-spiral, and has been for some months. The prospect — touted by President Barack Obama and the Democrats — of raising taxes on a whole variety of fronts, at this very moment, is unbelievably misguided (and that’s being polite). It is becoming inarguable that their approach can only be explained by an agenda other than the quickest possible recovery of the U.S. economy. It instead looks like an attempted wholesale transformation of the economy, from one where people are relatively free and encouraged to achieve, to one where dependence on government is the thing that is hard-wired and encouraged — to the political benefit of the party that garners more of its support from those dependent on government. This is symbolized and highlighted most disturbingly by President Obama’s plan to reduce the deductions that can be made for charitable giving. At a time when charities are needed more than ever, and will be needed even more as the economy continues to decline, to discourage charitable giving by anyone is the very last thing that a responsible government would do. It can be explained, however, according to the ideological model already described: If “the wealthy” are discouraged from donating to charity, and the charities fail to be able to support the growing ranks of the needy, then inevitably government will be called upon to step in more and will step in more.

The net effect: More people dependent on direct government aid, more money funnelled out of the pockets of private citizens and to government to inefficiently spend and to inflate government programs. (At the same time, by the way, President Obama can claim he is creating jobs by hiring more bureaucrats and government workers.) I have no hesitation in saying that this is wrong, deeply wrong, and (like a famous radio pundit being much vilified on the other side of the aisle) I sincerely hope it fails.

Alec Baldwin, I have to assume, is pretty much fine with this and with the overall liberal economic agenda that promises to turn a very bad recession into something much worse. Just don’t remove those tax breaks for his television show in New York! That would be madness!

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