"There's no business like ho business."
So said Dennis Hof, owner of Nevada's Moonlight Bunny Ranch. He told The Huffington Post that the federal government would do well to cut itself in on the "recession proof" business of prostitution by legalizing and taxing it.
"I pay about $350,000 a year in taxes," Hof said. "The government can have that money or they can spend a fortune on a vice squad. I can support my community or I can take away from the community by having an illegal sex trade."
Hof said the prospect of legalizing prostitution and marijuana should be on the table in the ongoing negotiations over the fiscal cliff, a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts that, economists said, could plunge the country back into recession.
The Christian Post reports that $30 billion a year is spent worldwide on prostitution. That's money that will be spent, whether selling sex is legal or not, Hof said.
"People are making billions on the sex trade in America and no government is making any money off of it, except in some places in Nevada," Hof said. "You can't stop it. Prohibition doesn't work and legalization can solve a lot of our problems."
Hof said he's frustrated by lawmakers' inability to compromise on a deal that would prevent the country from going over the cliff.
"The bottom line is, politicians work for us," Hof said. "It's time to tell our employees to get it together. We need to let these people know, do the right thing or you're getting fired."
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