I mostly agree, but if these deals were illegal then companies would probably start looking overseas for places to invest their capital. Also, it might come as a surprise to people but the biggest ratfuck tax dealing industry is Hollywood. The amount of local incentives the entertainment industry has siphoned from local sources in comparison to the actual benefit they confer is astronomical. You'll notice that AOC was strangely alone when she valiantly cast Amazon out of her own district. It's because if anyone actually brought major attention to the issue of local tax deals, it would invariably lead to a lot of questions about how Hollywood has been a multi-state leech for decades now.

I am pretty sure that's what is being referenced in the quote above about Google receiving 630MM in subsidies.

"Subsidies" in this case likely means state and local tax credits/exemptions. Usually, a huge company like google can entice local tax deals because the amount of economic activity they bring will more than make up for the shortfall created by the credit. They might negotiate for 200 million in corporate income tax credits, but the total net effect will be positive for the state. This is because the company brings jobs--each of which will be paying an individual income tax (if the state has one), sales tax on their purchases, and property tax on their homes. The company will also be paying other taxes and become a consistent revenue stream in the future when their income tax credits run out. The company also spurs a certain amount of economic activity just by being present. Construction and contractors are needed to build the location, for example. These deals can be good or bad, but they usually have bad optics and have come under closer scrutiny in the last few years. Amazon's HQ2 search got quite a bit of flak for how they managed that.