The Sex Tax

Download or read book The Sex Tax written by Wendell Dunn and published by Steven Lehrer. This book was released on 1979-08 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pity the poor politicians! With all the talk about Proposition 13 and budget-balancing amendments, they hardly know where to turn to squeeze their fellow citizens for new taxes. And if they can't get new tax money to dole out to the special-interest groups, how will they carry out their crusades? How will they promote the national welfare? More important, how will they get reelected? That's where Representative John Smith comes in, in W. E. Dunn's hilarious and to-the-point political fantasy. John Smith is a young state legislator who comes up with a revolutionary idea--a tax on sex! This Sex Tax will be the kind of levy that people will love to pay, and, best of all, the Internal Revenue Service (so-called) won't be able to stick its finger in the pie. The Sex Tax idea takes the nation by storm. Its path is smoothed greatly by the skilled hands of Madam Regina, a local businesswoman who has had many close contacts with the big boys in the statehouse. She puts it into the proper channel and Mr. Smith goes to Washington to present his plan to the nation's representatives. Soon the President and Congress are falling all over each other trying to get in on the Sex Tax act. The President likes it because it will stop people from "living in sin." The Congress doesn't care so much about stopping the sin, but they know votes when they see them, and they can tell that every department of government wants a piece of the action. The Pentagon wonders about morale in the military. The Department of Health, Education and Welfare calls for an investigation of the health risks. The Commerce Department reassures businessmen that their relationships with their secretaries won't be affected by taxing sex. Of course, in this modern world of special interests, the Sex Tax has to penetrate a thick wall of resistance on its first time out. Environmentalists oppose it, and protesters mount a demonstration in front of the White House in support of free love. And the IRS wants the country to deduct the whole thing from its mind. But, as W. E. Dunn wittily proves in this provocative satire, nothing can stop the Sex Tax. It is truly an idea whose time is coming.