Why does the government give "corporate subsidies" to corporations?

I don’t know what “corporate subsidies” are. However, I hear the same kind of bitching about giving corporations tax breaks. Well, I know enough about taxes to know that the government is trying to give them an incentive to keep their business here, on American soil, by competing with the lower taxes over seas. If people understood that, I don’t think they’d be quite so quick to criticize.

So, can we open a discussion about these social complaints people have, without understanding the logic behind them?