Should bronzed beauties and golden gods have to pay a sin tax?

After the majority of United States senators said yes, tanning businesses like The Ultimate Tan in Springfield answered with a massive email campaign, urging members to “band together to defeat this discriminatory and unjust tax” and to contact their elected senators and congressmen.

As senators approved a national health care bill on Christmas Eve, they also approved a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning salons — a measure that the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation says will raise $2.7 billion over 10 years to offset the expense of expanded health insurance.

Instead of the tanning tax, senators initially planned to pay for these costs with a 5 percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery, or the Bo-Tax. Even though this proposal would’ve reportedly raised $5.8 million over 10 years, it was removed from the legislation prior to the Senate vote for unfairly targeting women.