Mustache Group Announces ‘Million Mustache March’ in DC - East Idaho News
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Mustache Group Announces ‘Million Mustache March’ in DC

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GETTY P 101111 CapitolBuilding?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1329822049269iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — On a windswept Presidents Day afternoon, Aaron Perlut unveiled what could be considered his magnum opus: a Million Mustache March set for April Fool’s Day.

Standing before a small crowd of supporters and tourists who, curious, had ambled toward the pro-mustache music blaring from his stage on the U.S. Capitol’s West Lawn, the American Mustache Institute chairman also rolled out the “Stache Act,” a bill that would provide a $250 tax credit to mustached Americans.  Perlut touted the support of tax giant H&R Block, which really did agree to support the endeavor.

“According to AMI science, we’ve increased mustache growth and thus good looks by 38 percent in this country.  But those good looks came at a cost in the form of American-made facial grooming products such as beard and mustache trimmers, facial hair dyes, karate training devices, mayonnaise and dynamite. Indeed, those accoutrements are not free,” Perlut said.

“It is clear that mustache maintenance costs qualify and should be considered a deductible expense related to the production of income underneath Internal Revenue Service Code Section 212, and, hence, the Million Mustache March,” he added.

Along for the ride was John Yeutter, a tax professor at Northeastern State University who wrote the “Stache Act” and AMI’s accompanying tax-policy white paper.  Yeutter also sports a fearsome handlebar.

The April 1 Million Mustache March will be partly for mustaches, partly for fun and partly for charity.  For each attendee, H&R Block has agreed to make a donation to Millions From One, a group that seeks to deliver safe drinking water around the world by purchasing equipment and developing infrastructure.  Perlut’s plan is to lead one million mustachioed men from the Capitol to the White House.

H&R Block may seem a bit stodgy for the libertine AMI, which once promoted the “sexually adventurous lifestyle” of the mustached American male on its answering machine, and which holds an open grudge against alt-rock guitarist Dave Navarro, but the company found virtue in AMI’s goals.

“It fits our brand message of ‘never settle for less,’ and that applies to mustached Americans as well as everyone else,” Matthew Staub, H&R Block marketing manager for social media, told ABC News at the event. “We have some very impressive mustaches on our staff.”

If it succeeds, the Million Mustache March will likely be the top mustache-and-tax-policy-centered charitable event of 2012.

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