It took pornography to hear some economic sense from CNN on the issue of bailouts.
"American Morning" reported on Jan. 8 that Larry Flynt, of Hustler magazine, and Joe Francis, of Girls Gone Wild, sent out a press release Jan. 7 asking for $5 billion of the federal bailout action.
CNN's Kiran Chetry and correspondent Ted Rowlands reacted with skepticism. Rowlands said, "This seems to many like just another Larry Flynt publicity stunt."
Rowlands interviewed Flynt, who claims his business has fallen about 25 percent. Flynt reasoned that if a bailout precedent has been set, how will Congress decide who cannot be bailed out.
"I figured why not? They did it for the automobiles, they did it for the banks. You got a lot of unhappy people out there that sex is the farthest thing from their mind," Flynt said to Rowlands.
In order to balance his story, Rowlands spoke to Vincent Morezes who runs an adult video store in L.A. Morezes told CNN that business is up and he has seen sales and rentals jump "dramatically."
According to Flynt, his real motivation wasn't necessarily the $5 billion, but making a point about Washington D.C. "I'm dead serious about making Congress look stupid, you know. I think the American people should have more to say about those bailouts and how they're spending their money. These politicians have never handled our money wisely since I have been in this world and I don't think they're gonna start now," Flynt said.
