BoTax-- Politicians Get Bored, So Make Creative Tax Names

BoTax.

Yep. Pretty soon, there may be a 5% tax on plastic surgery (that is not due to congenital abnormalities, injuries from trauma, or disfiguring disease). The senate is proposing it in the latest Health Care bill.

But seriously. Plastic surgeons and their patients are outraged. From the NYT, "'A lot of people think of this as a tax on rich Republican housewives; rich nonworking Republican housewives,' said Dr. Phile Haeck, 'This is not the case.'" According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 60% of plastic surgery patients earn less than $90,000.

This might just mean outsourcing of plastic surgery (say hello to India and Mexico! Invest in expedia.com! in Kingfisher Airlines! in Air Mexico! haha)

Yet how much is 5% on plastic surgery? Its expensive enough as it is, why not take on another 5%?

While that seems *ahem* "logical," WHY THE HELL DO WE NEED TO TAX EVERYTHING?

Take Mayor Luke Ravenstahl of my own hometown, Pittsburgh. He wants to impose a 1% tax on students (Think University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, Carlow, Chatham, Robert Morris, the list goes on). He claims they aren't paying a dime for the services they receive and they should pitch in. According to USA today, only 6% of Carlow students can pay the full $20,000 tuition. What makes Lukie think they can afford more? 100,000 students make up a significant portion of the city. They are the reason Pittsburgh is one of the top ten tech cities in America. Why scare them away?

Perhaps if he came up with a more creative name for the tax, like "Stud-tax" I would be persuaded.