I was doing ... tax research! Yeah, that's the ticket!

[Brown]

Here's a little news tidbit that caught my eye, from KCCI TV (the CBS affiliate in central Iowa):

Rep. Dick Taylor, of Cedar Rapids, said he began considering the tax [on "dirty magazines, X-rated videos and sex toys"] after seeing numerous cars parked at an adult bookstore on Interstate 80 east of Des Moines at the Baxter exit.

Taylor said he and his wife investigated a number of adult stores in the Des Moines area and were surprised at what they found. He said the cheapest magazine in those stores is about $14 and they go up to $75 or $80. (emphasis added)

So the next time one of your neighbors (or constituents) spots you going into one of "those" stores, tell them that you're doing "tax research." It's a little strange that Rep. Taylor and his wife didn't do their "investigation" in their own jurisdiction. Surely they are aware that there are plenty of "those" stores in their neck of the woods.

The current tax rate for sexually oriented material is five percent. The idea is to perrhaps increase the tax rate for those materials.

Although the article doesn't say so, the constitutional problems associate with a "content-based" tax are immense. Imagine the outrage if some low-life author (like, oh, Stephen King, who started out writing stories for porno mags) has his work taxed at ten percent, but some mainstream author (like, oh, John Updyke, who includes some steamy and explicit scenes in his novels) has his work taxed at only five percent.

 

[shecky]

Maybe this'll spur a congressional investigation over price gouging in the porn industry. Yeah, we get to forget our current woes and wag our fingers at Larry Flint.

When I lived in the midwest, It seemed to me that the porn stores, being banished to outlying unpopulated areas, were among the most conspicuous businesses around. And their parking lots were always full of the cars from folks doing some research of their own.

 

[geni]

This is all a part of the attempt to get more people online.