You might be asking, when have whites and Christmas been taxed? Tanning booths and freshly cut Christmas trees. Buried deep in ObamaCare is a 10 percent tax on tanning salons that went into effect July 1, 2010 to help fund the $940 billion health care overhaul bill. The targeted tax is expected to generate $2.7 billion over ten years. This means that customers are paying the tax four years before they will get any healthcare.

Only so-called white people go to tanning booths. Can you imagine what would happen if a certain hair product or procedure used only by blacks was taxed? Al and Jesse would be marching on Washington.

I know the tanning-white-people is a stretch, but it’s a stretch for a reason. Liberals want our money any way they can get it, and they will tax anything and everything they can to get it. They don’t care one wit about the consequences of a seemingly minimal tax (and most of the time we don’t either as long as they don’t tax us). “It’s only ten percent,” we say. There are some companies where ten percent can make a difference between success and failure. The assumption is that customers won’t notice the difference. Think again:

“This is going to close tanning salons,” said Joseph Levy, vice president of the International Smart Tan Network, which has 3,000 member salons. “You can’t just pass on a tax like this to customers and not have it hurt your bottom line.”

Levy estimates that about 9,000 jobs are in jeopardy and more than 1,000 salons are at risk of being forced to close their doors. The tax also targets middle-class and female business owners, with about two-thirds of tanning salons in the U.S. owned by women, he said.

In addition to putting thousands of employees out of work, Levy predicts the tax will ultimately generate 40% to 50% less than the projected $2.7 billion.

If government officials can tax one industry, they can tax any industry. We should be screaming as loud as we can, NO NEW TAXES FOR ANYBODY and CUT WHAT TAXES WE DO PAY!

In March of this year, “advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended tighter controls on artificial tanning, ranging from requiring parental consent forms to banning use by younger teens.” That’s interesting. It’s OK for a teenager to get an abortion without parental permission, but it’s not OK to get a tan. Are these people messed up, or what?

What about taxing a particular Christmas? It’s about a Christmas tree tax that became public today. The story got so much attention that “the U.S. Department of Agriculture is going to delay implementation and revisit a proposed new 15 cent fee on fresh-cut Christmas trees.” This is the brainchild of the National Christmas Tree Association to promote their industry. The Association says that it’s not a tax. Then why is the United States Department of Agriculture involved? No one is opposed to a business raising money through sales for advertising to promote their products. It’s part of doing business.

Here’s the Heritage Foundation’s take on the issue:

In the Federal Register of November 8, 2011, Acting Administrator of Agricultural Marketing David R. Shipman announced that the Secretary of Agriculture will appoint a Christmas Tree Promotion Board. The purpose of the Board is to run a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace; maintain and expend existing markets for Christmas trees; and to carry out programs, plans, and projects designed to provide maximum benefits to the Christmas tree industry” (7 CFR 1214.46(n)). And the program of “information” is to include efforts to “enhance the image of Christmas trees and the Christmas tree industry in the United States” (7 CFR 1214.10).

To pay for the new Federal Christmas tree image improvement and marketing program, the Department of Agriculture imposed a 15-cent fee on all sales of fresh Christmas trees by sellers of more than 500 trees per year (7 CFR 1214.52). And, of course, the Christmas tree sellers are free to pass along the 15-cent Federal fee to consumers who buy their Christmas trees.

These two stories remind me of George Harrison’s song “Taxman,” the opening track on The Beatles’ 1966 album Revolver:

Let me tell you how it will be
There’s one for you, nineteen for me
‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman

Should five percent appear too small
Be thankful I don’t take it all
‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman

(If you drive a car car) I’ll tax the street
(If you try to sit sit) I’ll tax your seat
(If you get too cold cold) I’ll tax the heat
(If you take a walk walk) I’ll tax your feet

Taxman!

‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman

If you get a head head, I’ll tax your hat
If you get a pet pet, I’ll tax your cat
If you wipe your feet feet, I’ll tax your mat
If you’re overwieght, I’ll tax your fat

Now my advise to those who die
(Taxman!)
Declare the pennies on your eyes
(Taxman!)
‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman.

And you’re working for no one, but me
(Taxman!)

Yes, I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman