In the rush to finalize the health-care reform bill, the Senate voted Sunday to forgo a 5 percent tax on cosmetic surgeries and introduce a 10% levy on indoor tanning sessions instead — leaving some observers baffled. While the proposed "Bo-tax" on plastic surgery was projected to yield $5.8 billion over ten years, the new scheme will raise less than half that amount. (Watch a report about the Bo-tax.) Why did the Senate switch tactics and decide to penalize fake-sun worshippers?
Lobbyists proved the 'Bo-tax' was discriminatory: Plastic surgery advocates and feminist groups united to argue that the fee would penalize middle-class, middle-aged women struggling to remain viable in the job market' says Janice Turner at the Times Online. And they have a point: "If women want to be heard, to continue to participate in society… they must remain youthful."
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