Hard to tell the country is in such dire shape by sporting event attendance?

[pwb]

Professional and college sporting events are always sold out. Seems to me we use a lot of energy traveling to all these events, maybe an event tax would help reduce our debt?. Tax the distance from your zip code to whatever event you attend. All events, concerts, political rallies, nascar, horse racing, you name it, show your license when you pay and be charged accordingly. Your credit card knows your zip code too. That would be a tax i could live with, and with the price of attendance it sure would not hurt the poor because they are not there.
Just a thought, it needs tweaking tough.

[Dreamer Tatum]

1. Ever heard of sales tax, gasoline taxes, income taxes, and so forth?

Being at an event is taxed enough already. Tax the fucking internet by minutes online...how's that sound?

[provis99]

2. we're not wealthy, we just spend our money in stupid ways.

Like eat Ramen noodles for two weeks so we can blow $150 on football tickets.
It's the same spending mentality that I see among people who live in shacks, yet have a giant tv satellite dish and a big-ass Lincoln in the driveway.

[TheDebbieDee]

3. Just because the world is going to hell in a handbasket.........

doesn't mean everybody has to be miserable every moment along the way!

[47of74]

5. Well for people who fit H. L. Mencken's definition of Puritanism they kind of do

"Puritanism: the haunting fear that someone somewhere is happy." - H. L. Mencken

[lib2DaBone]

4. I don't know.. Tampa Bay Rays were recently in Playoffs....

.. and they had trouble getting people to the stadium. They finally gave away 20,000 seats to one of their last playoff games... and then the stadium was filled.

So it shows.. people WANT to support their teams... but there is just no money thanks to NAFTA and rewarding companies for taking jobs offshore.

[KamaAina]

6. A number of NFL teams are facing home blackouts this year

not just the Raiders like usual. :eyes:

On the other hand, the Rays, a recent expansion team, are still struggling to establish a fan base; their attendance woes lasted all season.

[Drale]

9. The Rays have bad attendence

because their stadium is in a really bad place. If you look at their broadcast numbers, they do have lots of fans.

[EFerrari]

7. Oh, please. Tax the corporate welfare queens that are sucking the country dry

not the people who try to forget about this screwed up country for an hour.

[Caliman73]

11. Totally agree.

Rachel Maddow was talking about that this week, how a bunch of big corporations and banks actually paid $0 in corporate taxes this past year, yet the stupid Republicans are crying about how high the corporate tax rate is. Trying to make up the gap in taxes by transferring the burden onto the middle class is just another sign of class warfare. Close up all the loopholes for the wealthy, then if we still don't have enough revenue, we can talk about use taxes and such.

[blondeatlast]

12. Indeed. nt

[fishwax]

16. yes. n/t

[Bluebear]

20. Perfectly said. nt

[ThoughtCriminal]

8. All Circus, no bread

:shrug:

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Go Mizzou!!

I just spent a couple hours forgetting about the bullshit in this screwed up country while enjoying watching Mizzou trounce Oklahoma.

Don't you dare take that away from me.

[fishwax]

13. sounds like a pretty silly idea

but we do reap taxes from the gas spent to get to events, the hotels people stay at for trips to events, the restaurants that people eat at before and after events, the groceries that people buy for tailgating, the stores where people buy their souvenirs, and so on ...

[Historic NY]

14. Its about a diversion, like booze...or other stuff momentarily allows escape.

[Iggo]

15. Yes.

[NBachers]

17. "I don't unrec that often, but when I do, it's well deserved"

Jeez- and once you generate enough untaxed income to pay your way into the event, everything you buy is sky-high. You get pinched, tweaked, and bit enough already.

The Giants just won the pennant here in San Francisco. The city's filled with jubilation, joy, and celebration. Bars, restaurants, streets, and establishments are filled with happy people; the local media's having the time of its life, and every shape, size, color, and strata of our diverse population is bursting with civic pride.

I saw a father and little son walking down Mission Street the other day with identical Giants jerseys on. It was just heart-melting- this little kid will remember him & his dad during these playoffs for his entire life. Whole families are turning out in team colors.

You got some kinda problem with all this?

[Bluebear]

18. bizarre

[Missy Vixen]

19. This isn't true

The NFL is struggling with blackouts all over the country because multiple teams' games aren't selling out. MLB is also feeling the pinch. College games are still relatively inexpensive, however, game admissions are suffering as well due to the soft economy.

An "event tax"? Do you realize that people like our family may attend one game a year as a huge treat, and save to attend that game? Thanks for letting those of us who enjoy sports know that we're just not paying enough to make you happy.

[cherokeeprogressive]

21. In L.A. and Orange Counties in So. Cal., there is such thing as an "entertainment tax"

I would bet EVERY location that has large venues (can you say Las Vegas?) has politicians who've figured out ways to tax them. Those taxes are paid by every theme park, every concert venue, and every sports stadium. Every hotel, every race track, every movie theater, and every where else people congregate for the purpose of some kind of entertainment. That tax becomes part of the admission price.

Some people choose to escape the doldrums and disappointment of every day life by going to sporting events and rooting for the "home team". Their lives are a little better because they live vicariously during their team's season whether it be good or bad. For some, going to that one home game they can afford to attend in the course of an 11 game college football season is the high point of their year. For others, it's just going to the local community college or high school football, baseball, or soccer game. Tax them too? Oh, as I said before, they're already taxed.

I'd like to propose a tax whereupon everyone who thinks people who choose to engage in behavior they themselves despise should be taxed.

Next?

[me b zola]

22. Help me understand your argument...

So because all of us aren't standing in the shelter line for a place to sleep at night that must mean we're doing okay? Is that what you're saying? Because their are some that have enough to pay for an evening of enjoyment, and you know, the little pleasures of life to remind us that we are still fucking alive, that means that everything is hunky-dorky? :wtf:

Yeah, your OP needs tweaking. Sweet Jesus, it needs something.

[malletgirl02]

23. Human nature

I agree with you, it is only natural that human beings seek what ever fleeting happiness they can because, life is too short not to. Like the late great Lena Horne sings in this song "Ain't it the truth" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMSyXuvNpeM

[WinkyDink]

24. Way to kill commerce.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. I'm Surprised Nobody Has Mentioned The Intrusion Into Our Private Lives Such A Scheme Would Entail

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