Sometimes legislative logic leaves much to be desired in that it is lousy reasoning, masquerading as logic.

   Two such examples stick out like the proverbial sore thumb as we put a ribbon on the 2009 legislative year:  The Hollywood film tax credit and the Pure Michigan campaign.

    Everybody has seen the TV spots narrated by Tim Allen which actually bring a tear to your eye if you are a true Michiganian. The spots touch a spot that goes right to your heart and has also brought tons of out-of-state tourists to spend money here.

   Needless to say, the state needs those tourist dollars so when it came time for lawmakers to ratify another $40 million in spending to continue the very successful campaign, they….well they….blew it!

   Here is the logic they either missed, were too stupid to get, just ignored or all three.

   For every one dollar the state spent on the ads, three dollars came into the state.  Repeat, for every one dollar, etc.

   There was a proposal to raise new revenue by taxing car rentals.  That seemed logical, but wait..republicans are against raising new revenue, even if it produces more revenue.

    As a result, the commercials will not air nationwide during the critical winter tourist season.

    Next was the Hollywood credit.  Again the  R's stood up to first kill it, but then when there was a push back, they opted to scale it back. 

    Some argued that even though the credit was working and bringing 80 some movie projects to the state, why would we want to continue that when it might lose a little money in the process?

    The tax credit was having a tremendous psychological impact on a state that was in a deep-dark  funk.  The audience stood up and cheered when the Clint Eastwood movie final credit appeared:  Made in Detroit, Michigan.

    Even if the state lost a few bucks, it had a halo effect that in the long run will benefit the state.

    Maybe some Republicans have it in for all those liberal Democrats who run the movie industry?

    It's that kind of logic that leaves you shaking your head.