A 2005 Census Bureau Survey found that more than one in five Americans could not pay for basic needs without help from family, friends, or outsiders. And this was before the recession happened. The numbers are most likely worse now. (Full Story)
News of the weird: A town in Albania plans to erect a statue of George W. Bush. It's to commemorate his 2007 visit to Albania. The statue will be located in "Bush Square". The mayor of the town said he wants the statue to "capture [Bush's] trademark way of walking with energy." First of all, Bush has a trademark walk? And one that includes energy...compared to all those non-energy walks? Second of all, how hard-up for visitors is this town in Albania that they were so excited by the visit of George W. Bush that they're giving him a statue and naming a square after him? I suspect attention-hungry David Hasselhoff will be showing up in Albania any day now. He's so done with Germany. (Full Story)
Wow. Just, wow. (Full Story)
A proposal in the Senate health care plan states that a 5% excise tax will be put on elective cosmetic surgeries and procedures -- including face lifts, liposuction, cosmetic implants, and botox injections. This only includes elective cosmetic surgeries, and not surgeries to fix a deformity or injury. It's expected that this tax would raise $6 billion.
A spokeswoman for the company that makes Botox Cosmetic said, "Taxing cosmetic procedures is unnecessarily punitive on people who merely decide to enhance their appearance." Oh she has that down pat...'merely decide to enhance their appearance'. That's smooth. Botox smooth (sorry, I had to).
The president-elect for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons argued that it's not just "wealthy, suburban Republican women" that are getting plastic surgery. He stated that, in actuality, of the 86% of women that get plastic surgery, 60% of them have incomes between $30,000 and $90,000. Is that supposed to help his case?! An income of $80,000 is suddenly destitute? 'How is she possibly going to put food on the table and get a tummy tuck?! It's unfair!'
He also pulled out the "tough economic times" card. He said that many of these newly jobless women will be looking for ways to make themselves more marketable and appealing to prospective employers. "They're competing with people 10 to 15 years younger than them and they want to look better." Wow, that's real sensitive. Women aren't getting hired because they're not fresh looking?! And why just jobless women? Why are only women expected to look younger in order to get a job? And that's his solution to dealing with unemployment? This isn't a problem with the economy, it's a problem of how our society views age, beauty, and gender -- which is perpetuated by these plastic surgeons. So don't act like you're looking out for these women, Mr. President-Elect.
This seems like a great thing to be taxing. Elective, cosmetic procedures are excessive. If you have the money to blow on these sorts of things, you should be able to pay a 5% excise tax. (Full Story)
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