Morals and Government

An American senator (Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa) has proposed that it is important to try to shut down pimps by using the IRS to tax them. Fair enough. I think they managed to catch Al Capone by charging him with tax evasion. It’s a funny message to be sending: I do not approve of what you are doing, but I want a piece of the action, or else.

The issue is more complex than I am making out, of course. It seems that the IRS has to prove how much income a pimp earned in order to effectively chanrge him or her with tax evasion. The changes that are being proposed would allow the IRS to charge a pimp with tax evasion for each sex trade worker whose income is not reported. Sounds good, I guess.

If it makes it easier to jail pimps, perhaps the proposed changes are good, but they will be based on the hypocritical notion that there is no such thing as dirty money. The state is saying that it is willing to profit from activities that are against the laws it has sworn to uphold. If I were the father of a son who was earning money pimping girls and I demanded 10%, I would be an accessory after the fact. Does the United States governement want to become an accessory after the fact?