Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Hey Pimp, you're under arrest for...tax evasion

I have seen many pieces of silly legislation get passed during my lifetime, but I think this one takes the cake.. most recently at least. The Senate finance committee is scheduled to vote today on a tax on pimps and prostitutes. The concept (tax those who make money and aren't paying taxes) is pretty sound, but the idea of taxing pimps and prostitutes seems to be pretty far fetched. Here's my thinking on this, first - how are they going to determine how much tax each one owes - is it going to be on a per John basis or an average based on their fee? The bill authorizes 10 years of prison for every prostitute a pimp doesn't register a W-2 for - so how exactly is the IRS or any other government agency supposed to know the exact number of prostitutes a pimp has? The idea of prosecuting pimps and prostitutes to get them off of the streets is a fine idea, it just seems that this is a piece of legislation that cannot be enforced or its cost will outweigh its benefits.

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