Bailouts Gone Wild

Porn kings Larry Flint and Joe Francis go begging for a bailout
BY CATEY HILL DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Wednesday, January 7th 2009, 5:18 PM

Is the porn industry up next for a bailout?  If porn titans Joe Francis and Larry Flynt have anything to do with it, it will.

Yes, ladies and gentleman, the titans of pornography are begging for a bailout.

Joe Francis, creator of the "Girl's Gone Wild" video series, and Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler, will ask Congress for a $5 billion bailout, according to TMZ.

Why does the porn industry need a bailout?  Because apparently even porn is getting smacked by the recession. 

XXX DVD sales have taken a hit - about a 22% hit, according to TMZ.

"With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind," Flynt is quoted as saying on TMZ. "It's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America."

Is the porn industry really experiencing a severe downturn?  It depends on who you ask.

Francis Koenig's fund AdultVest, which invests in porn-related assets, was up 50% in 2008, according to Tom Johansmeyer's article in next month's Atlantic (as reported by The Huffington Post).  But video sales are down.

"The industry's not going anywhere," Koenig says. "You've got 6 billion people on the planet," he laughs, "and they're all horny."

The porn industry generated about $12 billion in 2007, according to the Atlantic article.

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http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/01/07/2009-01-07_porn_kings_larry_flint_and_joe_francis_g.html
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My Thoughts

Well, apparently this culture of expecting a bailout that was started by Bush and expanded by the Democrats has finally gone too far. Whether or not this is a real expectaion or a joke by Francis and Flint, it is a perfect example of what is happening because of the Congress' lack of a backbone to turn down anyone with their hand out. Sure, they'll put on a show that will make it look like they're going to be tough, but when it comes to it they'll use the taxpayer's money to bailout those that made bad decisions and ruined their companies that they were hired to run.