The Botox Tax: An off topic political rant

Let’s get this straight from the start. I have not ever, nor do I intend to have any elective cosmetic surgery. That being said, I have to say some things about the proposed tax on elective cosmetic surgery.

When reading the comments on this article on CNN there is one general sentiment: “Screw you guys, you can afford it and it’s not necessary, tax it and tax it hard.”

The problem I have with this thinking is simple. Who decides what is elective, what is necessary and what is frivolous. It’s a very short hop to deciding that Grandma doesn’t need to knit, so let’s tax knitting supplies extra. How about people don’t really need pets, so let’s tax pet food double.

The point is my interests and hobbies are my business and if I have $5,000 to spend, I shouldn’t have to figure out the tax rate depending on if the government (and a bunch of opinionated asshole citizens) likes how I choose to spend it or not.

The argument being made is that this tax will go to pay for healthcare, but I am just not a fan of excise taxes. I don’t even agree with the Cigarette tax. If you want to smoke yourself to death, I don’t care, just don’t do it anywhere I can smell it.

There are plenty of medical things that we like to do that are not necessary, things that someone of lesser means would not do because they aren’t that serious. Why don’t we double tax comfort medicines like Claritin or Athlete’s Foot spray?

Why don’t we bump up the taxes we pay on insoles to make our feet feel better? It’s a silly argument to me to say that Botox makes someone feel better, but I am not a person who is overly concerned with my appearance. But I am also smart enough to know (and have known many) that some people are very concerned with their appearance and taxing Botox would be about the same as taxing make-up or hair spray.

The one comment I liked, and agree with, is that this whole thing could be much simpler. Let’s do it like a car salesman… I am going to write a number on this piece of paper, you tell me if it’s something you can live with. All joking aside, give me a percentage, tell me a number. If my tax bracket is 27%, take 27% of my check and leave me alone. I don’t want to talk about write-offs, I don’t want to figure out credits, and I don’t want to calculate taxes on the top of a cheeseburger. If you have to raise it to 35% to get the math to work out, make it happen. This isn’t rocket science, it’s called flat tax.

While we are at it, let’s stop having some states that charge a state tax and some that don’t. Some states that have sales tax and some that don’t. Let them pick a number also, take it out of my check, and quit taxing things individually. Take your toll bridges and shove them up your…well you get the point.

While we are on this topic, how about making things even simpler and stop asking me about dependants and points, anyone who pays someone for performing work takes the taxes out at that flat rate and sends it to the Government. Imagine how much less tax fraud and evasion there would be if you couldn’t just lie on a form and not pay taxes.

The last part is, stop segregating people. If you make $10,000 a year, you pay 35%, if you make $10,000,000 a year, you pay 35%. There is a magic number that makes all that math work out, and fair is fair. If you work hard and are able to get yourself into a fantastic income, then enjoy the rewards from your hard work. I don’t expect you to pay more than I do.

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