So much for their “pole” tax.

The case, Texas Entertainment Association Inc. v. Combs, decided March 28 by Travis County District Judge Scott Jenkins, violated the First Amendment and did not effectively advance an interest that would justify the free speech violation. While the judge held that while the state presented some persuasive evidence that strip clubs and sexual assaults have some connection, “[t]here is no evidence that combining alcohol with nude erotic dancing causes dancers to be uninsured, that any dancer is in fact uninsured, or that any uninsured dancer could qualify for assistance from the fund.”

Because entering strip clubs is protected First Amendment activity, the state had to demonstrate that its restriction of that right was “narrowly tailored” to achieve a “compelling governmental interest.” The law failed in this regard also: “[N]o evidence was presented to show that the amount of the tax is related in any way to the degree to which the taxed business activity contributes to the alleged secondary effects or to the financial cost of that contribution.”

Seems appropriate enough to me.  These narrowly-defined excise taxes - which are always supposed to fund some new government initiative aimed at solving the problems created by the thing being taxed - aggravate me a great deal because they never work.  Much like “sin” taxes levied on booze and tobacco, rarely do they result in a reduction in the use of the product or service being taxed.  And if they do that usually only prompts government bureaucrats to demand new sources of revenue to continue funding whatever initiative it is they started with the original tax’s revenues.

Frankly, as a country, we need a simpler tax code.  Rather than a million-and-one different taxes on products and services we should seek to narrow the government’s revenue stream to a few broadly-applied taxes.  Both for the sake of simplicity in compliance (the paperwork individuals and businesses must file to keep up with all the various taxes is taxing in and of itself) and transparency of government.