On Morals and Legislation

I've only got ten minutes or so, so I must be brief. Yesterday I heard a local talk show blowhard...err...host talking about local legislation to tax porn and strip clubs, and he was lambasting it as an attempt to legislate morality. While I see his point, I think people like this rarely do themselves, at least to its full extent.

What about cigarettes? We tax those heavily...even outlawing them outright in certain places. That is a "sin tax". Russ Johnson, if you are out there, what is your position on taxes on cigarettes? Alcohol? Gambling? Should casinos be heavily taxed? Let's be consistent, please. One way or the other. The gay activists who scream about people legislating morality also need to look at the cig nazis and make sure they are not aligned with them. Oh, you could say, "well, cigarettes are being outlawed because they pose a health risk". Well, as the who-knows-how-many victims of AIDS could attest, if they had survived, there are heightened health risks of that lifestyle (in general) as well. I am not being judgemental, its just the unfortunate facts.

As for me, let's just go for a flat income tax, or a national sales tax, and leave it at that. Adjust the spending to the taxes, not the other way around.

OK, done with my brief snippet.