Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and John Boehner are sad. They are sad because of the terrible prejudice they’re facing – a tax on tanning beds. See if you can follow this logic:
Mention the new “tan tax” in a major news outlet and cries of discrimination and reverse racism often follow.
The complaint surfaced on reader comment boards to blogs and news Web sites back in December, when it became clear that the levy — a 10 percent surcharge on the use of ultraviolet tanning beds — was likely to be included in the new health-care overhaul bill. Since then, it’s been repeated by conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh and Doc Thompson, a fill-in host for Glenn Beck who intoned in March, “I now know the pain of racism.”
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The case can seem deceptively simple: Since patrons of tanning salons are almost exclusively white, the tax will be almost entirely paid by white people and, therefore, violates their constitutional right to equal protection under the law.
Doc Thompson, I’m sure MLK would be marching over this. 🙄 Using this logic I guess cigarette taxes discriminate against smokers, alcohol taxes discriminate against drinkers and payroll taxes discriminate against workers. In other words, join the club. Also it’s unfair to say it discriminates against white people – I’m white and I would not go near a tanning bed.
Delaware has already passed laws restricting tanning beds. Senator Bethany Hall-Long sponsored the “Michelle Rigney Act” which restricted tanning bed use by minors. (I guess Senator Hall-Long discriminates against white people and minors.) The law was named after Michelle Rigney, a 22-year-old who died from melanoma.
Some people say that a tax on tanning beds is for health purposes, hoping to limit the behavior while raising revenue to cover the costs of illness related to them. Others might say the tanning tax is there because President Obama is prejudiced against white people. I report, you decide.
BTW, as far as I know the Sun is still free.