Wisconsin State Senator Jon Erpenbach wants to pay to keep non-violent youth offenders out of adult court by funding rehab programs for juveniles declared delinquent by taxing another class of (usually) non-violent delinquents: gamers. His proposed one-percent tax on game consoles and games actually doesn't tack an obscene penalty onto the receipt—$4.50 on an Xbox 360 Elite. We like the idea of the program but not singling out gaming to foot the bill in principle, 'cause it ties gaming to being a bad seed in two ways:

First, by paying for a youth offender/delinquency rehab program it almost implies games are somehow at issue, or at the very least it furthers the connection in Focus on the Family types' minds, and gamers already get enough huff from those mouth-breathers. Second, special taxes like this are usually tacked onto things considered "vices," like cigarettes. And I mean really, MMOs are the only games that truly destroy people's lives like lung cancer, and they should be taxed and labeled appropriately. [Game Politics via Destructoid]

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