As the health care bill nears the vote which could make it law, I'm sure that this and other blogs will have plenty to say about it.
For now, I'd just like to point out one lesser-known provision of the current iteration of the bill.
In order to help raise the revenues needed to fund this massive bill, visits to tanning salons will be subject to a 10% tax.
On the surface, this seems innocuous, but I've got a real problem with it.
As those who know me are aware, I'm a very light-skinned individual, even by general Caucasian standards. A graduate school classmate of mine once referred to me as "the whitest man I've ever seen."
My pigmentation is such that when I am exposed to the sun for prolonged periods of time, I tend to burn, not tan. This fact was driven home one day several years ago, when I went to an amusement park on a very sunny, late-April day with FBB and the kids, and came home with my head looking like an overripe tomato.
So, if I were to decide to get a nice, golden tan, I'd have no viable option other than to visit one of the 20,000 tanning salons currently operating in the United States (approximately 17,000 of which are located in New Jersey). Now, however, my to-tan-or-not-to-tan decision will be further clouded by the prospect of paying a 10% tax, in which case I'd probably decide to remain pale.
I never dreamed that in 2009, in "post-racial" America, I'd be discriminated against due to the color of my skin.
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