I suppose when recession hits, paying for porn is one of the first things to go.

sick dude

Disgraceful.

My faith of the capitalist, American system has been shaken to the core.

I am of the opinion that this is a joke on someone's part, quite possibly Francis' and Flynt's, to expose how ridiculous this whole thing is.

Zilph you must read Hustler. ;)

Agree with Zilph - no way can this be for real.

@ Airborne- totally agree mate!

then you think it actually doesn't need a bailout?

LOL, they can ASK for a bailout. No need to shake anything to the core. Just because they ask doesn't mean they get.

well knowing at least half problebly more of the American Senators and Representives are a. idoits b. preverts c. crooks thing look grim...Obama, veto now please!

funny to think that the porn industry was considered recession-proof until now. They actually had modest increases when the economy started sliding.

Im don't want the boobies to go away :(

I went to CNN to check the story out but the headline story by then was "Joe the plumber headed to Middle East". Now I'm not sure which is more ridiculous (but I suspect Joe over Larry since the former probably thinks he should be taken seriously as an expert).

It'll never happen, too big a distraction, and it's probably a joke. The stupid thing is, what if this were real request? That's a real industry with real commerce, but our political culture would certainly not be mature enough to look at such a thing seriously.

Doug, since the only argument for bailouts that's even close to reasonable is that without company x the economy would collapse (and that one may be reasonable, and may even be true, but it's still stupid), I think the porn industry is disqualified. By its very nature (at this point in American political culture) it can't afford to get that high-profile. I agree with you that it's stupid, though, and I don't really want to get into politics here.

Back on topic, warsprite, who would read hustler in a world with free porn sites? Don't be silly. Idrut, I'm afraid based on this headline and the one you reported that CNN has turned into the Onion. xcurlyxfries, maybe you should try applying your diplomatic skills to women.

Zilph, I'm not saying it's a good idea, or that it would be a good idea if it were serious, I'm complaining about the immaturity of our national dialogue--remember the time a President's entire second term was squandered because Congress impeached him over his sex life?

Actually, no, I was like 8 at the time. I don't remember what year it started, so don't take that as an indication of my precise age. :P

I completely agree with you, though. I envision a political future for America where the more ignorant members of the populace will require reassurance as to the prospective president's sexual abilities, not condemn him or her for having a sex life.

HA, Curlyfries applying his diplomatic skills to get women? Might as well sign up for the priesthood now.

The problem is, after the voters punished Republicans because they impeached Clinton for nothing, Democrats were too chickenshit to impeach Bush for EVERYTHING.

Eh, I say we destroy him in the history books, not by taking his job away.

if porn fails, the internet fails

Bush is underrated. He was a bad president but I think a lot of things he was blamed for were beyond his control and he had the misfortune of presiding over the era in which we find that America's past economic policies are biting it in the ass. That said... it's too bad he doesn't have more of a spine. That guy bows to pretty much everyone in a significant position of power that leans their weight on him. It's like he forgets that he's the freaking president... not Cheney or any of the others who significantly influenced his decisions.

Nah. You've got it wrong. If the internet fails, porn fails. As long as the internet is neutral and in existence, it will deliver porn...

Guys, its a joke. Its a statement against bailouts in general. If you read the extended article it actually goes on to say that porn industry is still doing quite financially well.

Cent, thanks for proving me right. :-)

Chris, even if the internet isn't neutral, it will deliver porn. Check out Freenet sometime.

Oh, and about Bush, I'd say that it takes a special sort of man to mismanage crises as badly as he did. And his lack of spine was entirely situational. I have two theories about him - either he was a total puppet because Rove et al had something on him, or he was a complete moron including as regards personal trust.

Guys this is no joke, I have friends who work in the porn industry and they tell me competition is stiff.

Yeah, but they're not going to come to Washington asking for bailouts - they're professionals, they're not even breathing heavy yet.

Competition is stiff eh?

Having a hard time?

You pun well sir...

Zilph just joking. Sorry no harm intended.

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/forbes/944/sex-and-recession

DougofDoom - there's one little problem about impeaching bush. That pesky little thing about him having to commit a crime first.

Clinton didn't get impeached because of his sex life, he got impeached for purgury and obstruction of justice. As much as the moveOn.org types hate bush, you still cannot impeach a sitting president because of his approval ratings or because you disagree with him or even because you hate him.

As far as Larry Flint - I would say this is more of a publicity stunt than a joke. On the 20th anniversary of JFK's assassination, this guy rented a limo just like JFK's and drove the same route at the same time, and splashed Ketchup on his head at the time the assassination occured 20 years earlier. He's a publicity whore. I also think he's trying to make a legitimate point though about why some industries are deserving of a bailout and others aren't

I wish people would start taking this seriously, the whole industry is going limp whilst washington plays with another stimulus package. Well let me tell you the porn workers' asses are on the line and they don't want another cock up!

It's okay, warsprite. Just pointing out that I don't make bad business decisions like that. ;-)

As for Bush committing a crime, I think we could get him in military court, but not civilian. He is (was) the commander-in-chief, after all. We could court-martial him for his torture policies.

I think the Porn industry can ride this one out. They seen times of soft demand before and it hasn't stopped them coming back. true, their backs are up against the wall but there is still vibrancy left in their business models. That said i think they should try to grab as much of the US government's bountiful pro growth chest as they can.

"New post Sent from: sean Online (2227 ) Sent: 01:21 AM
I think the Porn industry can ride this one out. They seen times of soft demand before and it hasn't stopped them coming back. true, their backs are up against the wall but there is still vibrancy left in their business models. That said i think they should try to grab as much of the US government's bountiful pro growth chest as they can."

all i can say is....=D