This image was lost some time after publication.

California's Republicans are deliberating whether or not to tax your porn downloads. State Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D.-City of Industry) first proposed a tax on all online porn, estimated to bring in $500 million to offset Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget cuts, and now wants to levy a 25 percent tax on any adult businesses operating in California, and on consumer's purchases of porn, too. It's fiendishly clever.

Implying that buying and selling online porn should be taxed to offset the "harms" of porn, as Calderon says in his bill AB2914 thrusts Republicans into a nasty position when it comes to their constituents. How can cultural conservatives promise to not raise taxes and appease their smut-hating bases — especially when those same voters would never admit they don't want to eat a hefty tax for their monthly membership fee for NakedSword.com, too? (Photo: Madison Young, San Francisco-based porn star, writhes somewhere in-state for JulieSimone.com)