By Matt for the TIB Network:
A Democrat from New Jersey wants to tax networks who show those Cadillac of Poker shows on the tee-vee. It's just another one of those crazy tax and spend ideas from the Party that made it famous.[Story]
Doug's Dialogue
This is not a good plan. Obviously Assemblywoman Ms. Voss doesn't understand the ramifications for something like this. First these types of shows are for entertainment. I watch these shows on a regular basis, not one of them actually encourages people to go gambling. Several of the shows that I have watched have actually aired commercials encouraging people to seek help if they have gambling problems. Granted, I don't live in New Jersey, and have no idea what commercials air during these shows in New Jersey.
The issue is if you are going to tax stations who air these shows, why not take it one step further and tax stations that air any kind of sports program? People also have gambling problems betting on sports, probably more so than playing poker.
The solution to this problem is not what the assemblywoman is proposing. I fear for the direction that this is heading. If this were to pass as any kind of legislation, it would not stop with poker. It would not stop with sports. It would continue on to the point that everybody with a problem will have some sort of tax on shows that portray that problem in a favorable light. The television stations will not be hurt by those taxes. They will pass that fee on to the consumers.
According to the article, New Jersey casinos contribute $600,000 for anti-compulsive gambling. This is a very small percentage of what the casinos actually make on any given year. A local casino near where I live made 2004 profits of over 61.5 million (source www.cincypost.com/2005/02/10/arg021005.html). That is profit, after expenses. This would be small potatoes compared to what the New Jersey casinos would make in a given year. Before you start charging television stations taxes for helping the compulsive gamblers, you really should look to collect more from those casinos. However, this will not happen.
As the assemblywoman knows, the state of New Jersey collects a large amount of taxes from the gambling industry, not to mention the influx of dollars coming into the state due to the tourism industry due to these casinos. She is blowing smoke and mirrors to try and hide the real issue. She knows that you cannot bite the hand that feeds you, so instead of trying to collect more from the casinos, she is trying to find another way to collect money in typical liberal fashion.
Nice try assemblywoman, but the gig is up. You have been found out.
Mark's Remarks
This is about as ignorant as McDonald's stopping offering supersizing because of lawsuits which blame the fast food chain for the litigants' being fat...come on now....what next, we tax Iron Chef? The Essence of Emeril? The NCAA Tournament? Whata ridiculous and stupid idea. Leave it to the party of NO! to come up with it.
