INSERT INAPPROPRIATE PUN HERE…. Critics of the very idea of industry bailouts have argued in recent months that Congress shouldn’t get in the business of picking and choosing — if you bail out one failing industry, others will expect similar support.
I’m afraid this might bolster their argument.
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.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict that policy makers will not respond well to the request. For one thing, the industry itself is actually struggling financially. For another, it’s difficult to imagine which member of Congress would be the first to seriously propose offering tax dollars to Larry Flynt.
