By Kathleen Gilbert
January 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two leaders in the pornography industry have written to Congress asking for 5 billion dollars to help ease the damage done to the 13-billion dollar business by a struggling economy.
Larry Flint, the founder of Hustler magazine, and “Girls Gone Wild” creator Joe Francis told Washington that the pornography business should be treated with the same care given to auto manufacturers, who expect a portion of the government money to help avoid collapse.
“Congress seems willing to help shore up our nation’s most important businesses, (and) we feel we deserve the same consideration,” Francis said in a statement. “In difficult economic times, Americans turn to entertainment for relief. More and more, the kind of entertainment they turn to is adult entertainment.”
Francis, who was recently imprisoned on a prostitution-related charge, cited figures showing porn DVD sales and rentals decreasing 22% in 2008.
“The 13-billion-dollar industry is in no fear of collapse, but why take chances?” said the pair.
Flint lamented that “With all this economic misery and people losing all that money,” more people were thinking twice about spending money on pornography. “It’s time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America,” he said. “The only way they can do this is by supporting the adult industry and doing it quickly.”
“I’d like to know what Obama would say,” Francis told E! News. “I bet he’s a Girls Gone Wild fan…If we’re invited [to the White House], then we’ll go.”