Fascism, according to Benito Mussolini, is the merger of state and corporate powers.

Welcome to Amerika.

Kathy Hochul, a nobody that anybody heard of who was a lieutenant governor that became governor of New York after Andrew Cuomo was thrown out, is stealing more taxpayer’s money to enrich the rich. 

It was announced last week that she wants to throw a record amount of tax incentives to TV and movie producers to film in the state—raising questions about the wisdom of using tax dollars in the effort and her close relationship with individuals who stand to benefit. 

The New York Times reported that the Democrat wants to expand a program by about 70 percent that would put state taxpayers on the hook for up to $7.7 billion for the next 11 years. The program would be a tax-incentive windfall for producers and studio owners.

Doug Steiner, the head of Steiner Studios in Brooklyn who gave Hochul’s campaign $40,000 last year, told the paper that it is vital that New York keeps the program in place. 

“This is modern manufacturing, but without this program, this business goes away,” he said.

The paper noted that there is a growing chorus of critics who say politicians are overstating the need for these programs. 

The paper, citing the most recent analysis, said these credits generated about $10 billion in direct spending in 2019 and 2020, and in the process, made the state about 50 cents in tax revenue to the state for every dollar credited. 

The report said New York City took in another 49 cents and 5 cents is earmarked to other localities. Critics say these numbers don’t take into account movies and productions that would have been filmed in New York even without these credits.

“I like to say that politicians love two things, jocks and movie stars,” J.C. Bradbury, a professor of economics at Kennesaw State University, told the paper. “Any sports team that wants a subsidy, they’ll get it. Movies seem to get it as well.”

TRENDPOST: Gerald Celente has long quoted George Carlin who famously said, “It’s one big club, and you ain’t in it.”

What Hochul is doing is anathema to capitalism: Giving money to big corporations and tax incentives for those who promise to create jobs etc., has become the American way as worker’s wages decline.

The New York Times report noted that “Hollywood’s influence runs deep in New York,” which translates to mean that nepotism and political favors are widespread. Rhoda Glickman, the woman who oversees the subsidy program, is married to Dan Glickman, who was the chairman of the Motion Picture Association. Their boy, Johnathan Glickman, is a “major Hollywood producer.”

Last year, The Trends Journal reported on how Hochul saw to it that the Buffalo Bills get their funding for a new stadium. (See “MORE CORPORATE WELFARE FOR THE BILLIONAIRE CLUB” 5 April 2022.)   

The New York Post noted that Hochul’s husband, Bill, is senior vice president and general counsel for Delaware North, which is the food concessionaire at the Bills’ current stadium. The paper said his company stands to benefit from the stadium deal.

John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, has been critical of the project and Hochul’s husband’s ties to the vendor.  

“We think it’s an awful—grotesque rip-off of taxpayers,” Kaehny told WKBW.com.