Michigan, the state I live in, has been perplexed as to what services it should tax in order to make up for a budget deficit. Many people complained when the governor and the legislature initially proposed to tax services like haircuts, movie tickets and sporting events at the current 6% sales tax rate. During the last couple of days, lawmakers mentioned how they really didn't want to tax services used regularly by the poor and middle class. I agree with this reasoning as there is no real good way to cut your own hair, and taking in a movie or seeing a Tigers game are one of the few ways us citizens can escape the cloud of doom hanging over our state. So, what services did lawmakers decide to tax? Here's a list of services that may be included in the sales tax from the Detroit News. When I first read this list, I was surprised to see "Phrenology Services". The only other time I heard phrenology mentioned was in Walt Whitman's prelude to the Leaves of Grass. In case you didn't know, phrenology is the reading of head bumps. Now, how many phrenologists can there be in the State of Michigan? One?

Anyway, further chuckles can be had over the idea of taxing balloon-o-grams, astrology services, fortune telling, psychic services, palm reading and numerology. Even escort services are being taxed. Is nothing sacred????

1. the observor10/04/2007 08:44:40 PM

Yep - and he is the majority leader of the state senate.

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2. the observor10/04/2007 08:44:41 PM

Yep - and he is the majority leader of the state senate.

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3. the observor10/04/2007 08:44:42 PM

Yep - and he is the majority leader of the state senate.

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4. Andre Guirard10/10/2007 02:26:30 PM
Homepage: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/bpmpblog.nsf

If the goal is to avoid taxing the poor, then I certainly don't think it's appropriate to tax psychics, astrologers and the like, most of whose clients are probably in the lower income brackets since those are the least educated and therefore probably the most credulous.

If they want to do the poor some good, they should instead establish a certification procedure for these businesses -- have them pass a objectively scored test that demonstrates their psychic abilities, or whatever it is they're selling. Since astrology is a hoax and psychic powers do not exist, this would effectively outlaw all such businesses, and the poor would have fewer opportunities to be defrauded by charlatans.

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