December 21, 2007 -
A Wisconsin lawmaker wants to ensure that non-violent, youthful offenders are processed in juvenile, not adult court.The idea makes sense, but State Senator Jon Erpenbach's plan to fund rehabilitation programs for those found delinquent is controversial.
As reported by the Wisconsin Radio Network, Erpenbach, a Democrat, wants to add a special one-percent sales tax for video games and game consoles. The surcharge would be in addition to Wisconsin's current five-percent sales tax.
State Representative Steve Nass (R), however, has questioned the logic of tying video games to juvenile crime and wonders why games should be singled out for a tax increase.
GP: Although we really like the idea of keeping non-violent juvenile offenders out the adult system (seems like a no-brainer), it is difficult to see Sen. Erpenbach's logic here in regard to the video game tax. Is he presuming a relationship between games and youth crime? No data supports that. More likely, he is equating video games with toys (and thus with children), as so many non-gamers of his generation are wont to do.



Comments
1.rap music tax to fund drug rehab clinics....
2.and lets tax mexican restaurants to support welfare...
3.and or a gas tax for Iraq war or war on terror...
4.or non-citizen tax to support jails...
5.a tax on bibles to support those that have been harmed by cults???
6.how about a condom tax to support aids victims(cause supposedly their existance in itself makes people have sex more...)
7.how about a politician tax to support the families of dead prostitutes?
I could come up with more moronic ideas...
He isn't trying to make a statement he just knows for a fact that games make children break the law, to him it is a poven fact...
Why do I assume this? Because sin taxes are passed on things that are proven to cause damage to society...
What he is says is that games are as dangerous to society as tobacco is for your lungs...
He also assumes that games are for kids... average age of a gamer is 33 so I guess kids now includes people up to and maybe over 40 years old...
THIS POLITICIAN IS THE WORST KIND OF ANTI-GAMES ADVOCATE he isn't treating it as a new thing to be passed or proven he is treating games as a proven evil that must be stopped...
The worst thing for anyone to do is to pass the idea that games are evil is a natural thing which shouldn't be discussed any more when it is actually the opposite of that.....
Actually, a few states have special soda taxes, and others have proposed them as well.