The New York Times reported yesterday about how legislators are thinking up various tax schemes to raise revenue. Tom Ammiano, a city councilman in San Francisco (who has come very far from the man who appeared in the amazing documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk), would like to legalize reefer and tax it. Meanwhile, Nevada State Senator Bob Coffin is proposing to tax the state's legal brothels - and he's finding that the operators support the tariff. That might seem surprising, but Coffin has a very plausible explanation: “I think they figure if they become part of the tax stream, the less vulnerable they will be to some shift in mores."
This is hardly a revelation, but one of the best ways to solidify legalization of vice offenses is to install them as tax revenue sources. The first step is always hardest: you need to get a state or two willing to stop the sanctimony and legalize some proscribed conduct - something like, say, I dunno, gambling. At first, many agnostic voters will oppose the vice - they're relatively neutral but see no need for dramatic changes in the law. But one way over that hump is to propose that the newly legal "bad" conduct be taxed to fund "good" social programs. Thus, these new revenues get earmarked for things like education - in Georgia, that means lottery money insures free state school tuition for thousands of middle and upper middle income students. Once a state or two starts to boast about these great vice-funded programs, residents of other states get jealous. And it becomes easy enough to rationalize a move towards legalization. After all, "all our citizens are going out of state for this mischief. We can't stop it; let's keep the taxes here at home."
Soon, people get very comfortable with this previously criminal conduct. It's not hurting average suburbanites and they appreciate the reduced tuition. When the morality crusaders come surging back, they discover that voters are still somewhat agnostic about the behavior - but they sure as shootin' aren't going to give up the tax revenue.
Yet another piece of evidence that, at the end of the day, most social change happens in the domain of tax law.
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