Joe Biden Looking to Create Tax on Violent Video Games

Biden believes that a tax on violent entertainment would be a lawful and smart move to combat violence in America.

Even though there are legal precedents to discourage this course of action, should this idea gain any traction?

Explore and see why this is a terrible idea for not only the industry but the country as a whole , and why it would not work.

[PopRocks359]

Oy. Another one of these scams? It was crap like this that made me dislike Hillary Clinton, among other staff members of the American government.

EDIT: @yesmynameissumo and Donnieboi

No kidding, right? Why not tax rated R movies or death metal music? While we're at it, let's charge anyone who drops an F bomb. Like the silver age! That will save the kiddies for sure!

[JBSleek]

You're not going to agree with all of a politician's ideals even if you like them.

This is likely a response that when something happens in America people want results fast and usually those results are not well thought out and likely idiotic.

[Yi-Long]

.... OK, let's start taxing the hell out of The Bible! Pretty sure that's got a lot of violence in it.

Why stop there!? Let's tax religion! Because unlike videogames, religion has absolutely been proven to cause hate, intolerance and violence!

What an incredible dumb and shortsighted 'idea', and it's disrespectful towards the people who make (violent) videogames/movies/comics, who play/watch/read (violent) videogames/movies/comics, and most of all it's disrespectful towards the victims of these horrendous crimes, because it seems the actual problem that exists in our society still isn't being dealt with in a serious matter, because people like this reverend and Biden still prefer to go after scapegoats, instead of adressing the actual causes...

[dcbronco]

I don't think they should tax the bible, I think they should ban it. Video games have a long, long way to go to catch the number of people killed by christians.

Right now the score is untold millions to none in favor of video games.

[brettski]

No, it's a power grab by liberals jumping in a tragedy. This is typical.

[Captain Qwark 9]

i would be pretty upset, i like violent games, death metal, and r rated movies lol id be screwed

[Pushagree]

These are our choices. Dumb and Dumber. Vote 3rd party.

[zeal0us]

Taxing violent games will solve everything because we all know little Timmy's mom won't buy the next Call of Duty game if it being taxed /s

[yesmynameissumo]

Better tax the shit out of Hollywood then.

[Donnieboi]

^ Exactly this. If they don't tax hollywood, then they can't tax the gaming industry. Especially when the gaming industry has a similar age rating system to that of movies. Heck, at least we put our rating on the front of the box, with an even more detailed description on the back. Movies only put their rating/description on the back.

[xamtheking]

What if he taxes only AO, and not Mature, games?

[ApolloTheBoss]

AO rated games are banned in the US anyway.

[SuicidalTendencies]

No they aren't. It's just that most stores won't sell them. You can still get them online.

[Captain Qwark 9]

@suicidal

yeah but most people dont make them because stores wont sell them. its financial suicide

[soulpatchadams]

Freedom of speech $5.99 isle 5, red white and blue light special!

[isarai]

Not going to happen, if they tax the gaming industry for this then they have to tax every other medium aswell for violent pieces, and that shit isn't going to fly.

[Yi-Long]

... how much violence is described in The Bible.

[SpideySpeakz]

Tax the Bible.

[Jaybronee]

Forget the bible....tax the Koran! Don't see many Christians flying planes into buildings, blowing up bombs and cutting off heads.

[aLucidMind]

@Jaybronee.
You don't see many Muslims doing it, either; the majority of people in each religion don't do any of that crap.

[jc48573]

oh come on, excising taxes on violent games? What's next?

[ShiftyLookingCow]

Great. Soon we will be buying our rights like Capcom's DLC.

[Crazay]

Joe Biden can get bent. Who's going to decide what's deemed as "violent"? A government department? Ya that's going to go over real well. What about TV shows, Movies...hell what about the evening news that shows real world violence in the form of war or even stupid acts of humanity?

What a dumbass.

[famoussasjohn]

Perhaps "We The People" should take back our rights instead of letting the Government infringe upon our freedom. I don't see something like this ever passing, it should be shot down immediately if it was ever proposed though.

[ravenl0rd]

Change we can believe in! Pathetic.

[bumnut]

If they really believed violent games are such a serious problem they would ban them.

How can they say this game is evil and will corrupt your kids, but as long as you give us some more money everythings fine?

[rainslacker]

Well...they tax cigarettes so highly with the reason to pay for the escalated health costs that smokers may endure. Despite the health risks, there is too much money involved for them to just ban cigarettes. Whether or not that tax money actually goes towards that end I'm not sure.

Not saying taxing violent games is right, but this kind of tax isn't unheard of.

It should also be noted that it actually is illegal to tax games as decided by the supreme court in the Brown vs EMA decision in June 2011.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

In the written opinion it was stated that this decision would possibly require further examination in the future. But it's hard to imagine that more evidence could be provided to sway the vote which was 7-2 in favor of no taxation.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

Idiotic and poorly thought out. Games are no different from movies, music and books. Is games the only media that has violence in it?? Im pretty sure Movies have way more violence in it and why not tax it?? Saw series, wrong turn, hatchet and other slasher films. And the bad thing i can see happening is when the tax gets approved, our games will become "more" expensive. instead of $60 it will become $70. This kind of politician will make all gamers pissed!

[Yodagamer]

The problem is they really don't care as long as they got more money to spend. Once they think up a new way to tax they will. I provided an example of their attitude.

[amiga-man]

M$ have been taxing the internet of xbox users for years it seems some shit does fly lol.

[LAWSON72]

Why Joe Biden? You want a bigger paycheck because it aint like it will actually go to improving are country

[Crazay]

Can't hurt some grammar and English skills of today's citizens...

"are country" ? =P

[famoussasjohn]

'Mericuh!

[LAWSON72]

Do you feel special pointing out grammar errors? This is the internet my goal is not to properly spell, therefore, human error happens quite frequently when there is little effort.
It iz nt lk it s hrd to rd n undrstnd.

[NovusTerminus]

Only if it applies to R rated movies as well. and violent albums. You cannot single out one medium, well... You can but you shouldn't.

OR, we could hold the PARENTS resoponsible for letting their kids play these games.

[frelyler]

Just tax Fox news every time they say something baseless and inflammatory. That alone would solve America's debt problem.

[brettski]

You mean msnbc

[Jaybronee]

Yeah...the article is about Biden but he brings up Fox news. Another liberal gem. Don't blame me...I voted third party.

[aLucidMind]

You two should be looking at both, as they both do the same crap. Only a sheep or an idiot would criticize one side while ignoring their party doing the same things.

[RuleofOne343]

Hey Errand boy if you are going to truly try to implement this don't forget to include books ,movies, music videos, Television industry cause not including them would seem unfair & Show how much control the NRA has over our politician .

[Inception]

*facepalm*
Politicians are the same everywhere: they don't have brains.

[Soldierone]

Tax this, tax that. Yet with all these taxes we have millionaires sitting in office, failing at their jobs, and spending more money than they take in.

Any other group of nimrods would be fired......

[djthechamp24]

Wonder how many developers would love this shit!!!

[KillrateOmega]

Yup, tax violent video games while completely ignoring the all the violence that can be found in movies, music, books, etc. You're such a stand-up guy... /s

Get bent, Biden.

[Gamer-Z]

These are the people that are running the US government!? Dear god what have we done.....

[Imalwaysright]

He should tax the parents that buy and allow their kids to play violent videogames.

[heyjiggajay]

Worst part is that these politicians aren't even getting real experts for consulting. They tend to just get people that look professional and agree with them.

[Jek_Porkins]

This guy is such a tool........Liberals are ruining a lot of things lately. Aside from abandoning out own people in times of need, they are scattered on idiotic ideas like this! Maybe work on the economy, or get gas under $4 a gallon...sheesh.

[LUKENBACHER]

You know what would happen? The government would rake in millions, spend 10% of it on awareness campaigns in schools across the country, and the rest of the money would be pocketed for who knows what.

This isn't a "solution" of any type. It is simply taking a popular conversation piece in society right now, finding a way to exploit the controversy for money, in order to offer a false sense of a solution. The only people who think this is a good idea are either greedy liars looking for a quick buck, or misinformed people that have allowed American media outlets to brainwash them into thinking that violent video games cause senseless violence.

"Oh hey look. That shooter on TV played video games."

VS.

"Oh hey look, 1/4 of the world plays video games."

[AtomicGerbil]

Haaaa ha ha ha ha!!!!..........Oh! he's serious?!!!

Typical politician, out of touch with the real world.

[Allsystemgamer]

Humans are naturally attracted to negativity. No one will buy a happy sharing time game...it's all about competition. The ultimate competition is facing off against other people for survival. Video games offer a safe way for that....fool