So New Jersey’s governor Chris Christie took time out from maybe-or-maybe-not running unsuccessfully for president (can you decide already so that you can lose your bid to Mitt Romney?) to announce that Jersey Shore would no longer be receiving tax breaks from the state so that they can film eight filthy whores drink and punch and cry. Via The Slate:
Dubbed the “Snooki subsidy,” the tax credit is part of a $10 million state program that grants eligible film and TV production companies a 20-percent tax credit on their expenses in New Jersey. According to USA Today, the MTV program brings in additional jobs and millions of dollars to the state. So why’d you veto the break, bro? “I have no interest in policing the content of such projects,” the Republican governor said in a statement. “However, as chief executive I am duty-bound to ensure that taxpayers are not footing a $420,000 bill for a project which does nothing more than perpetuate misconceptions about the state and its citizens.”
All right, so on one hand, deciding which shows do and do not get tax breaks based entirely on your own personal tastes? Shitty policy. But then I remembered that Jersey Shore practically prints money, most of which goes to either MTV or the gaggle of syphilitic fetal-alcohol-syndrome babies they film running around being shitty all day. And as for the jobs … once again, most of those are from the cast themselves, so I’m pretty sure they can just balance the budget by selling Deena to a glue factory. The courts would probably consider it a mercy killing.