I’m not normally an advocate of higher taxes, but Glenn Reynolds could be onto something. He referenced an old 1953 short film the entertainment industry put out calling for a reduction or elimination on theater ticket taxes. That was before the time of progressive Hollywood stars crying for higher taxes on “rich” folks. I can’t find video, but the IMBD write up is here.
Reynolds thinks it’s about time the Republicans give those calling for higher taxes what they want, and start with a repeal of the repeal of the theater tax.
Were I a Republican senator or representative, I would be agitating to repeal the “Eisenhower tax cut” on the movie industry and restore the excise tax. I think I would also look at imposing similar taxes on sales of DVDs, pay-per-view movies, CDs, downloadable music, and related products.
I’d also look at the tax and accounting treatment of these industries to see if they were taking advantage of any special “loopholes” that could be closed as a means of reducing “tax expenditures.” (Answer: Yes, they are.)
America, after all, is facing the largest national debt in relation to GDP that it has faced since the end of World War II, so a return to the measures deemed necessary then is surely justifiable now.
The president’s own rhetoric about revenues certainly suggests so. Perhaps the bill could be named the “Greatest Generation Tax Fairness Act” in recognition of its history.
Should legislation of this sort be passed — or even credibly threatened — I think we can expect to see Hollywood rediscover the dangers posed by “job killing tax increases,” just as pro-tax-increase Warren Buffet changed his tune once his own corporate-jet business was threatened.
And, given the entertainment industries’ role as the Democrats’ campaign finance ATM, it seems likely that the president might soon reconsider his rhetoric as well.
Read on, those aren’t the only taxes creative Republicans could propose. Heh!
Matt Damon was not available for comment.
Update: The Other McCain linked – thanks!
Tags: Eisenhower, Hollywood, Matt Damon, tax, theater
NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
We can’t tax Liberal things. We must tax Conservative things!!!! The rich must be punished!!!! Unless your a liberal rich guy making money off LIBERAL things then we wont touch your loopholes.
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Movie tickets, DVD purchases, etc. are all luxury goods/services most likely to be purchased by “the rich.” Sounds nice and progressive to me
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[...] gets better after that. More from The Other McCain and The Lonely Conservative. Related, via The Hill – spin, spin and more spin: White House: S&P downgrade is why [...]
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