When Politicians Tax Violent Video Games 315
talien79 writes "Taxing video games has a storied history in state legislatures. The reality is that video games, violent or otherwise, simply make too much money to be stopped. But taxing them is a viable compromise, a 'sin tax' of sorts similar to that levied on cigarettes. This article reviews the time-honored tactic of politicians pandering to their base: taxing violent video games."
So They Tax The Pretend Violence (Score:1, Interesting)
And use most the money made for real war.
What the fuck is wrong with these people?
Pirating = Tax Evasion too? (Score:2, Interesting)
You can't "copy" cigarettes, but you can (but not legally in most cases) with digital media.
If said digital media has a "tax" on it, and someone makes a copy, then could that be made into an additional crime of tax evasion?
Re:Tax my Toilet (Score:2, Interesting)
Taxing for taxes sake. (Score:4, Interesting)
A sin tax? Are we serious? What's next? Will confessionals become toll booths? What constitutes a sin and by whos guage?
And targeting this? Why don't you call it what it is. "Wow, you make too much money, we need to figure out a way to tax you more."
I'll tell you what's a sin here. Re-electing these morons back in office. Give me a break. How about we look to tax lawmakers who fail to show up for work?
Freaking morons.
New Tax Idea (Score:5, Interesting)
Let's just tax bad parents. You let your kid fail spelling? That's a hundred bucks. You let your kid fail math? That's two hundred. You let your kid fail PE? Well, celibacy is it's own tax plus, he/she won't be squishing out any more sedentary, garbage pile producing crotchfruit to compete with the resources of other, more fit people. TAX PARENTS.
Re:Movies? (Score:4, Interesting)
Wasn't that found unconstitutional? (Score:2, Interesting)
I think a "vice tax" on violent games has already been found an obstruction to free speech (how is it free speech if you're taxed depending on what you say?) and thus unconstitutional.
Letting that aside, "vice taxes" are a terrible idea, it basically means the richer you are the more vices you're allowed to have. To someone with a 200000$/year income the tax carries a completely different weight than to someone who earns 20000$/year. If vice taxes are supposed to make people use something less then they should be adjusted to the income (e.g. if every pack of cigarettes was taxed 1/2000th of your monthly income) so they don't vary between a huge barrier and a mere blip between different social classes. Not gonna reduce someone's use of something if the additional cost is so minor it doesn't matter while making it a significant bump for the upper classes will completely block it from the lower classes. Oh and hey, there we've got another abridgement to the freedom of speech, having the proles locked out of your speech if you talk about the wrong things.