According to longtime Democratic Hill staffer John McDonough, writing in his new book Inside Health Reform, Democratic Sen. Max Baucus and his Senate Finance staff considered numerous sources for other taxes for purposes of funding Obamacare, including elective cosmetic surgery (a boob job tax), a tax on sugary beverages (Michael Bloomberg would’ve loved it), as well as taxes on alcohol or tobacco sales.
One they considered very seriously, according to McDonough, was “a tax on online pornography.”
Politically, pushing this tax would’ve served Democrats’ purposes of creating trouble for their Republican opposition – many social conservatives would be put in a difficult spot. And the porn industry remains a consistent moneymaker (some estimates conclude it’s a $12-13 billion industry) and increasingly makes most of its money via the internet, so taxing it would serve the dual purpose of opening the door for more online taxes. But ultimately, Senate Democratic staffers rejected the idea as unworkable. Medicare, it seems, was a much easier target for revenue.
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