Bailing out the Porn

10 days into 2009, and it already looks like this is going to be a great year; more financial world rubbish to deal with, more war in the Middle East, global recession, and porn industry bailouts.

What?

Okay so the American Government has been running around bailing out banks, car companies, and so on. Fix the economy, right? Stop things from crashing, right?

Well apparently all sorts of companies have been rushing to the White House to ask for bailouts, including the lovely adult entertainment industry. Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion for a bailout of the industry. Let's look at some quotes:

"The US government should actively support the adult industry's survival and growth, just as it feels the need to support any other industry cherished by the American people"

"The take here is that everyone and their mother want to be bailed out from the banks to the big three. The porn industry has been hurt by the downturn like everyone else and they are going to ask for the $5 billion"

A few things come to mind here.. First, would the adult industry be one the American Government considers for a bailout? Sure, they're a big driver in the US market; they provide jobs for film-makers, editors, actors. They move the sales of filming equipment, filming location rentals, printing-presses, web hosting space, etc. They are a real business after all.

But is it a real concern of the American Government? Perhaps it would be better to let the porn industry die? Achieve a moral objective and at the same time, save some of the country's budget (deficit?) for something else?

So let's dismiss the whole request as a ridiculous one.

Or is it?

Perhaps Larry Flint and Joe Francis KNOW that there's no chance their request would be approved; five billion dollars is quite a bit of money, a little more than the bailout loan for Chrysler. Maybe they know how ridiculous a bailout request from the adult industry sounds. Maybe they weren't actually looking for the money.

Maybe they were trying to make a point?

Stop bailing out companies that can't do business properly. Stop bailing out companies that shouldn't be bailed out. You've bailed out the crooked banks and financial institutions that have pushed peoples finances and caused them to lose their houses, cars, etc. You're bailing out auto companies that consistently performed worse and worse year after year. You're continuing to spend taxpayer money to help companies that didn't do well; it's like giving a bad kid a slap on the wrist and telling him to go back out and play.

The Federal Government has probably set a bad precedent for bailing everyone and their momma out, and it's just like putting a bandage on a broken arm. Maybe it's time to sit back and let more companies fail; in the short run, it's not the greatest thing that could happen, jobs would be lost, money would be spent, etc. But over the long run, maybe that's the way to go. If they need a bit of a jump start, by all means, go ahead, but trillion dollar bailouts in the current conditions is just out of line.

Let the failures fail.


(Thanks to Ali GM for sending me this article. Just for the record, Ali GM has nothing to do with the auto giant, currently also asking for a bailout)

Porn industry seeks federal bailout
7 January 2009

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Another major American industry is asking for assistance as the global financial crisis continues: Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion for a bailout of the adult entertainment industry.

“The take here is that everyone and their mother want to be bailed out from the banks to the big three,” said Owen Moogan, spokesman for Larry Flynt. “The porn industry has been hurt by the downturn like everyone else and they are going to ask for the $5 billion. Is it the most serious thing in the world? Is it going to make the lives of Americans better if it happens? It is not for them to determine.”

Francis said in a statement that “the US government should actively support the adult industry's survival and growth, just as it feels the need to support any other industry cherished by the American people."

“We should be delivering [the request] by the end of today to our congressmen and [Secretary of the Treasury Henry] Paulson asking for this $5 billion dollar bailout,” he told CNN Wednesday.

Flynt and Francis concede the industry itself is in no financial danger — DVD sales have slipped over the past year, but Web traffic has continued to grow.

But the industry leaders said the issue is a nation in need. "People are too depressed to be sexually active," Flynt said in the statement. "This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such but they cannot do without sex."

"With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind. It's time for congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America. The only way they can do this is by supporting the adult industry and doing it quickly."

So far, there has been no congressional reaction to the request.

Original Article