I'm kind of sorry the Senate health care bill got rid of the "bo-tax" on plastic surgery. Would have been decent way to raise revenue on something nobody except plastic surgeons and Joan Rivers would call a necessity. But the Senate bill now has a 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning, which seems to have caught the Indoor Tanning Association by surprise.

The ITA's home page has a righteous blast against wise proposals in Baltimore County and Howard County to restrict teen access to tanning parlors. The measures are "an unnecessary intrusion of government in their daily lives" and (channeling Thomas Jefferson here) erode "the freedom of individuals to acquire a suntan." Nothing on the ITA site about the anti-tanning tyranny of the Senate health bill.

The tanning tax is a sensible tax of the sort advocated by A.C. Pigou. It raises revenue and also discourages activity which is harmful and costly to society.