Porn,Strip clubs, six-packs tax to curb Califronia's 20bn debt.

As state leaders hunt for politically palatable solutions to California's swelling budget deficit, some Democrats are proposing unorthodox ways to generate cash.Strip clubs, six-packs, grocery bags and iTunes downloads are all in their sights as alternatives to broad income or sales tax increases. So are gas guzzlers and yachts -- and a tax loophole for criminals.Despite tough odds of overcoming an oath signed by their Republican colleagues to stop any tax increases, Democratic lawmakers seem confident that their ideas will carry the day. They predict the public won't stand for painful cuts to schools and health care to close a shortfall the governor now pegs as high as $20 billion and say anti-tax forces ultimately will have to accept that more tax revenue is needed to bring the state into the black.The idea of taxing comforts and conveniences evokes the budget crisis of 1991, when then-Gov. Pete Wilson agreed to impose a "snack tax" on Californians, raising the cost of junk food and bottled water. Voters repealed it a year later.Supporters of the latest measures might be encouraged by a recent softening of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's anti-tax rhetoric -- although he still says he's against new taxes -- and by reports that his administration is exploring possible new levies.Some of the proposals would be used to pay off the deficit; others would fund specific new programs. The legislators say their various causes -- as broad as averting further cuts to the general fund tapped by all government programs and as narrow as improving local trash cleanup -- are too important to let slide just because the state is broke. They say their quest for revenue is the responsible course of action."If we don't do some of these things, we are going to have to cut nearly $5 billion out of schools," said Charles Calderon, chairman of the Assembly Revenue and Taxation committee. He has put forward some of the Legislature's more unconventional measures, including taxes on digital downloads and adult entertainment.