Shame On Nancy Pelosi: 5% Botox Tax Kind Of Sexist

Gee, Senator Nancy Pelosi, we expected better from you.

A 5% Botox tax? Or as it's being called, 'The Bo-tax.' This is being included in the Senate Health Care bill?

Yeah, ha ha. LOL.

Are you serious? Do you really think that Botox, liposuction, and other elective cosmetic procedures should be taxed? You call this health care reform?

Senate Democrats are proposing a 5% excise tax on elective cosmetic procedures. And let's not stop at Botox. Other cosmetic taxable things would include teeth whitening, breast implants, facelifts, tummy tucks, etc.

"The tax would bring in an estimated $6 billion over 10 years and wouldn't apply to cosmetic surgery meant to fix a deformity or injury." That's according to a great discussion we found on CNN's Jack Cafferty File.

But as one woman commented, "I would like to see a 5% tax on erectile dysfunction drugs, hair restoration ..." How about a special Viagra tax?

And she's right. Aren't Nancy Pelosi and company acting kind of sexist here? Why aren't men's 'things' being taxed? Most cosmetic and plastic surgery procedures are done for women, more than 80%. So, aren't women being targeted unfairly?

We suppose we should be grateful. Initially, lawmakers were trying to impose a 10% tax to help bring in more money to 'make the bill work.'

So here's the question: Should our government tax cosmetic procedures like Botox and liposuction to help pay for health care reform?

The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery has responded:

"Activating a cosmetic surgery tax is not the solution to funding a health care overhaul,” states AACS Immediate Past President Dr. Steven Hopping. “While it appears that this is currently a serious consideration, this idea concerns us.”

So what's the big deal?

The AACS says that legislators should consider some key points:

A tax on elective cosmetic procedures is an unreliable, risky revenue source that has no proven record of raising projected revenues.

--The difficulty of defining elective vs. medically-necessary cosmetic surgery. There is a blurry line between what procedures are considered medically-necessary and those that are elective.

--Retention of highly-skilled physicians is at risk. Physicians face many challenges in operating their practices on a day-to-day basis. Turning them into tax-collectors is an additional burden on these doctors.

--Cosmetic surgery is not a specialty for only the wealthy or the vain. In fact, the median income for those electing to have cosmetic surgery is dropping.

--Despite the fact that more men are seeking cosmetic procedures than ever, the largest portion of patients are still working women, who would be unfairly targeted by such taxes.

We're not sure what wil happen on Capitol Hill, but it looks like this Bo-tax could be come a reality and soon.