Nevada lawmakers squeamish about prostitution tax  — Nevada
taxes you when you have a drink, when you catch a show and when
you buy some smokes – and of course it gets a piece of your
action at the casino. But if you're looking for a sin-tax haven,
you could head to a brothel.    "I don't know why people won't
recognize that we have a legal industry," said Sen. Bob Coffin,
who is pushing for a tax on the world's oldest profession. "I'm
willing to go in and do the dirty work if no one else will."
Coffin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Taxation
Committee, said the state is desperate for revenue and he "will
go anywhere" to find it, including the state's 25 legal
brothels.  The Nevada Brothel Owners Association supports the
tax, which Coffin estimated would raise at least $2 million a
year. Part of the money would fund a counseling agency for sex
workers.  "The bottom line is that the Chicken Ranch is a legal
business," said Bob Fisher, a spokesman for the brothel in
Pahrump, outside of Las Vegas. "Why s