Is Rendell serious about state's fiscal mess?

Matthew J. Brouillette tees off on Gov. Ed Rendell's spending priorities and questions whether the governor is taking the state's fiscal crisis seriously.

Writing in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Brouillette, who heads The Commonwealth Foundation in Harrisburg, says "Gov. Rendell has been treating people like pawns to be used for political leverage in pursuit of his agenda."

While the state is facing a $1.6 billion budget deficit, Rendell continues to fund questionable programs.

Among these is tax credits for Hollywood filmmakers, including Kevin Smith, who made the film "Zack and Miri Make A Porno" using $5 million courtesy of Pennsylvania taxpayers.

Is that the best use of state funds?

From Brouilette's column:

It's inappropriate spending that could be going to vital government functions or the paychecks of working Pennsylvanians. But the governor has deemed other "priorities" more important than families' budgets.

Although the governor argues that there are economic benefits to transferring income from one taxpayer to another, at least one of his grant programs has been an abysmal failure. According to his administration's own data, the $75 million Film Tax Credit - enacted in 2007 after lobbying by former state Rep. Mike Veon (D., Beaver), who was later indicted - has not produced any measurable economic benefit.

Meanwhile, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" - a (barely) R-rated flick replete with raunch, as the title suggests - received about $5 million in tax credits. Another filmmaker who received a subsidy admitted he would make movies in Pennsylvania without subsidies or tax credits.

Read the full column at the newspaper's Web site.