Quote Originally Posted by bigdicki View Post
I think the answer is more than the number of escorts who pay taxes now. In other words, the reason its not legal isn't because they wouldn't pay taxes. Estimates say we are missing out on $54 billion in tax revenue from prostitution. That is based on what I think is a low estimate of 1.2 million illegal prostitutes in the US. If only a third paid taxes, that's still over $17 billion. The real reasons are 1) feminists feel it is degrading to women despite it making a way for under-educated women to move up if they do it right and 2) religious conservatives don't want to see people paying for sex. It's just that simple.

Good points but let's face it, the world is ran by greed of the almighty dollar. It would be NICE if those things play a role, but it's obvious they do not.

For one, feminists aren't making laws. Prostitution was illegal way before the modern feminist movement took place. Feminist are against it, true, but whether they decide if it's illegal or not is a shot in the dark. Feminist aren't making the laws, older white men (sprinkle in a couple of bruthas) in D.C. are making the laws. Feminist heavily influence some laws but I think that's more to exact feminist agendas. I don't think prostitution is high on the list. Still that doesn't account to why its still illegal for males and TS to do it.

Secondly, religious officials play a large role in shaping whats moral and immoral in our country, not whats legal and illegal. Case in point - abortion. If the religious right community played that large a role in our society, abortion would have been illegal decades ago. It is not. Case in point #2 - porn. Why isn't porn illegal if the religious conservatives shape our laws? Nope. The government found a way to track it (2257 laws/Releases) and therefore tax it. The government made it into an industry in some manner of speaking.

IMO, whatever the government cannot accurately tax, it is deemed illegal. They can't efficiently tax pimps & hoes. Its almost impossible. That's why it's illegal. They can't tax the drug trade in a positive manner. Its too hard to track it and that may end up helping out other countries south of the border. If you are going to attempt to tax cocaine, then you are flirting with making it legal. We would have just legalized the drug trade and all of South America is about to become very rich off of importing drugs to the largest market for them in the world - the U.S.A. Before you know it, they will have thriving economies also able to raise money to compete on the global market and stronger military forces. Like Chris Rock said "God forbid some brown people got wealthy... We can't have that! Because drugs come from brown countries. We can't have no wealthy brown people!".

It all boils down to money.