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I’ve explained why Kevin Spacey’s take on politics, and that of the House of Cards universe in general, is pretentious and ignorant. Spacey thinks that politicians in real life are eerily similar to those in House of Cards. This is just not true, and lets a whole lot of people off for poor political decision-making. Politicians are for the most part bureaucrats, not interesting and beautiful super-villains. And lo and behold, the lobbyist for House of Cards (yes the show has a lobbyist) let the producers embarrass themselves with crass bullying tactics towards politicians that would have only worked in the fantasyland of House of Cards.

By way of backstory, the show gets tax credits from Maryland for filming in Maryland. This tax treatment is a scam, but corporations, including Hollywood studios (though Boeing’s the worst when it comes to this), have been playing states and countries off each other for decades to get these kinds of subsidies. Here’s what the show’s producers did to get more money.

Securing the additional state incentives is no sure thing since the entertainment industry tax credit has an uneven legislative history. Last year, Maryland lawmakers increased the amount to $25 million from $7.5 million for a single year. In 2012, a proposed boost died in the House Ways and Means Committee.

To improve their odds, the show’s producers this time tried toughening their approach by postponing any filming of the third season to June “to ensure there has been a positive outcome of the legislation,” wrote Charlie Goldstein, the senior vice president of Beverly Hills, California-based Media Rights Capital Studios, which owns the show’s production company. The letter was part of submitted testimony at a Feb. 14 House hearing on a similar bill.

“In the event sufficient incentives do not become available, we will have to break down our stage, sets and offices and set up in another state,” Goldstein wrote.

The letter backfired by angering lawmakers. The House of Delegates yesterday passed a measure requiring state officials to use their eminent domain power to seize real and intellectual property from any production company that stops filming after taking more than $10 million in tax credits. At this point, it would apply only to “House of Cards.”

“It was just much more crass than you would expect ‘‘House of Cards’’ writers to engage in,” said Delegate Bill Frick, a Democratic member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Frick sponsored the eminent domain measure, which must still pass the Senate to become law.

Even the show’s lobbyist, Gerard Evans, distanced himself from the letter. “It was unfortunate,” he said. “I think we’ve gotten over that.”

I like that House of Cards has a lobbyist. But also, I like that the producers of the show tried to act like a character on the show, and promptly got undermined by their own childish behavior and misunderstanding of how political power actually works. The whole tax credit scam has been going on for years, and it’s going to continue because the basic relationship between the corporate world and the public sector is out of balance. But that’s not because evil manipulative super-villains are out in force making threats and deals.

And then there’s this.

George owns a jewelry store in Annapolis and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild after dabbling in acting. He said the producers invited him to audition for a part as an extra on the show. The request came when he attended an April 2012 steak dinner for members of the House and Senate tax-writing committees that cost $4,000, state lobbying records show.

He declined. “Being in the legislature and getting the part — that just doesn’t seem right,” he said.

Not everyone shares that reservation. Cynthia Busch, wife of Democratic House Speaker Michael Busch, landed a role as a U.S. senator in the second season. She was paid about $100, and it won’t sway her husband’s vote, Busch spokeswoman Alexandra Hughes said in an e-mail.

“I had a really great experience — Kevin Spacey, holy smokes,” Cynthia Busch said to WJZ-TV before attending the wine-bar reception last week.

In other words, the producers gave a gift to politicians, otherwise known as a bribe. Lest you think this ‘give you a part on a show’ is innovative, I’ll just point out that Senator Leahy chairs the Judiciary Committee that handles copyright issues and somehow managed to land a part in The Dark Knight movies. But at least they kept this somewhat quiet.

Anyway, my guess is that House of Cards will ultimately get subsidized by the taxpayers, because of inertia. Then again, maybe not. But their own political behavior didn’t help their cause.