GOP lawmaker proposes tax breaks for mustaches

A mustachioed Republican congressman from Maryland is standing up for the rights of the men (and the women) who dare to have hair above their upper lip.

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett has introduced the Stimulus To Allow Critical Hair Expenses Act -- or STACHE Act -- to give people with mustaches a $250 tax break each year.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the American Mustache Institute said that they had found a friend in Bartlett.

"After barnstorming the Nation’s Capitol in support of the proposed Stache Act (details and white paper here, the office of of [sic] Maryland 6th district U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett informed the American Mustache Institute that the congressman has begun the process of ensuring the ‘Stache Act becomes law by passing the proposal to the House Ways and Means Committee for study — an essential first step for tax legislation," the press advisory explained.

A white paper by Northeastern State University Associate Professor of Accounting and Tax Policy Dr. John Yeutter recommended the tax loophole, claiming that the "social and environmental benefits to mustache growth and maintenance contribute to the growth of the economy."

"Given the clear link between the growing and maintenance of mustaches and incremental income ... mustache maintenance costs qualify for and should be considered as a deductible expense," the paper said.

Speaking to Raw Story on Wednesday, Bartlett spokeswoman Lisa Wright declined to say that the congressman's introduction of the bill constituted an endorsement.

"He sent it over to Ways and Means [committee] without any recommendation of any kind at all," Wright told U.S. News and World Report on Tuesday.

Advocates of the mustache legislation are planning a "Million Mustache March" on April 1st in Washington, D.C.

Watch this video from StacheAct.com, broadcast Feb. 19, 2012.