While skimming through the Drudge Report I came across a gem from the Congress Daily describing how the Senate Finance Committee is discussing the possibility of imposing a 10 percent excise tax on certain plastic surgeries. The tax would be limited to plastic surgeries done exclusively for personal improvement i.e teeth whitening, botox, nose jobs, and lipo. Other procedures done out of necessity such as cleft-palate or facial reconstruction caused by injury would remain untaxed.
Initially, while chuckling at the protests from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, I thought 'good riddance to bad facial rubbish'. Then I pondered a more legitimate reason for the imposition of this tax, other than me not liking the idea of cyborgs.
I found a parallel to this proposed legislation in the' sin tax' placed upon cigarettes and alcohol. Just as some people think they desperately need their teeth whitened or nose straightened I and thousands of other college students desperately need the confidence boosting effects of a few beers. The ego-scathing similarities of these two lifestyles became a little too evident.
Maybe that's why after a few shots everyone in need of a new face starts to look a little bit better. Some call it inebriation, but perhaps the real name of that mental state is empathy. Or not.
Anyway, I being a strong supporter of taxation equity believe this is another step in leveling the playing field. The poor will take the sin tax and the rich will take the beauty tax. Both enterprises are luxuries and should be treated as such. I guess these taxes are Mother America's way of slapping the kids who drink too much and stare in the mirror too long.
Who knows, maybe some of the tax money might even make it into programs that help the rest of the Americans. Remember them? They're all the people too busy with jobs and kids to understand how the screw-ups find time to make such a fuss about taxes most people don't care about.
No comments:
Post a Comment