Where are the customers who PAY TAXES FOR ADMISSION?

I actually thought you were going to talk of a proposal to expand the tax base by expanding the legal sins, lol. For example the politicians could get alot more tax money by making prostitution legal and then taxing it. While the politicians were at it they could legalize other things too and tax those like crazy. I'm sure people would even come from out of state to help support the school taxes in Texas. (sarcastic humor here)

Casualguy and TGG touched on a few of these sins...

Let's tax all our sinners
By RICK CASEY
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

The Legislature needs help with the very difficult task of paying for our public schools. Everyone agrees that good public schools are important. Almost everybody agrees that poor kids deserve as much public funding as rich kids.
Almost everybody agrees that our state's reliance on property tax has grown too heavy. That's where agreement ends. Some politicians want to rely more on sin taxes. Led by the governor, they would tax cigarettes and strip joints and increase state-sponsored gambling by installing video lotteries at race tracks. Some, led by the lieutenant governor, want to increase revenues by broadening the tax base.

I think I have the solution. We should broaden the base of sins we tax. We need a serious discussion of how best to do this, and I'm calling on ministers of every faith to bring their expertise to the table. My purpose here is simply to start the discussion.

With the Seven Deadly Sins.

Governor Perry's proposal already covers two.

··Avarice. This is "too great a desire for wealth." Playing the lottery, either by video at racetracks or by buying tickets at the convenience store, is an effective way to tax avarice. Mathematicians will tell you that, statistically speaking, the odds of winning the lottery are the same if you don't buy a ticket as they are if you do. So there is no rational reason to play except for indulging in avarice's equivalent of a pornographic fantasy. That brings us to...

··Lust. I like Perry's proposal to add a $5 tax on admission to strip joints. Since most of these refer to themselves as "gentlemen's clubs," they should be fined for false advertising as well. Given what patrons pay for cheap drinks for themselves and "champagne" (aka ginger ale) for the dancers, they won't hesitate to pay five bucks for education.

··Wrath. How to tax this sin? Easy: Place a levy on talk radio based on Arbitron ratings. Right-wing talk radio. Left-wing talk radio. Talk radio feeds on the angry belief that those who disagree with you are either stupid or, worse, evil. When well done, the frothing is entertaining. Wrathful entertainment can be taxed, just like lustful entertainment. Let's keep the tax low: a penny per average listener per day.

··Gluttony. Fast-food nation makes this a snap. Can you say, "Super-size it"? That'll be 50 cents. McDonald's isn't the only restaurant that super-sizes, though. The luxury equivalents are steak houses such as Morton's of Chicago, where steaks the size of footballs are accompanied by baked potatoes big as hat boxes. Tax those plates $5. This brings us to another tax on potatoes: couch potatoes...

··Sloth. This is the best proposal of all, because it is doubly beneficial. It not only would raise money for schools but would inherently produce better students. A $1 tax on cigarettes, as proposed by the governor, would likely have the benefit of reducing smoking, especially among the young. It would be better if the money went to health care, the costs of which would be reduced if the tax had its beneficial effect. My sloth tax for schools would do for education what the cigarette tax would do for health. The tax? All televisions would be monitored and taxed a nickel for every minute they are on. There may be no single educational reform with more impact than reducing the amount of time children spend watching television. Parents, too.

Much to the chagrin of governments throughout the ages, not everything can be taxed, not even all sins.

I have pondered and pondered, but haven't been able to figure a way to tax the two remaining deadly sins: pride and envy.

But then, I'm not a preacher or a politician. I know we can count on them.

I would go to the clubs more often, just to help the kiddies...:-) I think CasualGuy has added some great ideas to the "Politician Tax" format. Do any of us think that the "regular people" would not go for this idea. And actually, it is a good idea...

"Governor Perry wants to link public education to the so-called vices of smoking, gambling and strip clubs. ...The governor proposed a $5 minimum "adult entertainment tax" admission whereby patrons of topless bars would be enjoined to underwrite the education of Texas schoolchildren. Many municipalities currently waste buckets of public time and money in futile attempts to keep "adult entertainment" venues out of sight of schools and churches. Perhaps now the PTA, the school board, and the liquor lobby can happily join hands for "Back to School Nights" down at the Yellow Rose."

Some states have a similar sin tax. Last year Vegas projected and additional $111 million from theirs.

I wonder if the people who are concerned (I believe alot of people aren't concerned one way or the other about strip clubs) are thinking about first they enact laws to keep strip clubs a certain distance away from schools and now strip clubs are going to be used to help support the schools. Don't you wish the politicians would make up their mind? I can see the slogans now "Help support our schools, just visit one of our neighborhood strip clubs."

That sounds like a great idea ^^. I propose a government use tax on all office buildings. $5 if the politician actually attends the event or office he/she is supposed to be in and $10 if they are not. We could even give them a tax break and only charge once a day instead of every time they leave and come back so they won't have to pay the admission tax as much. Great idea above. I'm sure the people would be all for it. It would put a tax on "bad behavior" with politicians not showing up for work or votes etc.

I say we tax the politicians just for being themselves. A "politicians tax", they would have to pay extra, just for being in office. I know "we the people" would go for it, but would the politicians? I say, let's petition to put it on the ballot...:-)

Anyone from Texas got an opinion?