Some Windy City restaurateurs are kicking bottled water to the curb all in the name, they say, of saving the planet, much to the delight of the Chicago Sun-Times. But it seems to me reporter Rummana Hussain may have washed over a juicier angle by burying a key fact eight paragraphs into her nine-paragraph March 27 article.:
Revenues from Chicago's new nickel-a-container bottled water tax are coming in at a rate nearly 40 percent below projections.
Could it be that the new water bottle tax adds yet another paperwork and accounting hassle for restaurant owners, some of whom would just as soon ditch bottled water than deal with the headache of complying with the law? Hussain didn't consider that angle, accepting on face value that restaurants are ditching bottled water purely out of concern for the environment.
What's more, there's a huge story here in unintended consequences with tax revenue coming in well under initial projections. The bottom line: Chicago passed a tax -- initially proposed at up to 25 cents a bottle -- hoping to rake in cash from bottled water sales while doing so in the name of saving the environment to assuage voter anger over yet another tax hike.
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Washington state is pushing a for BAN on petroleum-based
March 27, 2008 - 16:12 ET by upcountrywaterwater bottles! FINE then ! make them out of GLASS.
Whatever uses MORE energy is just fine with this bunch of mindless KOOKS.
<wake up>SAVVVE The Whales N' Earth; conserve N' recycle !
IranianUranium<sleep>Infrastructure/repair?/ROFLMAO
Ken, Part of the shortfall
March 27, 2008 - 17:05 ET by Hunter12Ken, Part of the shortfall in the projected tax revenue is from people driving outside the Chicago city limits to the Walmarts that were built outside of Chicago proper because the failed shakedown by the city fathers:
"For the project to move forward, Wal-Mart will need to get a law changed by the City Council. Under the current zoning for the Chatham Market shopping center at 83rd Street and Stewart Avenue, the city must approve any tenant leasing more than 100,000 square feet, the Tribune said.
....
In 2005, the city rejected a proposal by Wal-Mart to open a store on the South Side, prompting the company to open a store in Evergreen Park just outside the city limits."
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
Shame on you, Ken!
March 27, 2008 - 18:26 ET by Indiana JoeDon't you know that the "H" word is now verboten??? ;^D
Seriously, though, I've been watching this and chuckling for months now. Daley figured out a way to tax water. They already tax land, exorbitently. Once they figure out how to tax breathing air, Chicago will finally be set financially.
Or a ghost town.
Our brilliant leadership...
March 27, 2008 - 19:14 ET by heldmyw...here in Michigan raised the cigarette tax to just below that of New York City, and, cackling with glee and wringing their gnarled and greedy claws, began calculating how much money they could squeeze out of this oppressed portion of society.
They are now "surprised" that people are traveling out of state, or purchasing from overseas, or using other legal means to circumvent this egregious rape. The stream of gold never materialized.
Oh yes, "they're filthy tobacco-users and don't deserve any better". I hear it all the time. Sadly, the rapees don't see it that way.
Well, take a lesson. You want to create a new mini-Prohibition, complete with smugglers, safe houses, protection money, armed traffickers and contempt for the law?
This is how. Water, tobacco, it doesn't really matter. It just has to be something that the public wants.
It amazes me that Chicago of all places fell into this stupidity considering it's history. That Capone thing didn't go so well, did it?
"You want to create a new
March 29, 2008 - 09:15 ET by Indiana Joe"You want to create a new mini-Prohibition, complete with smugglers, safe houses, protection money, armed traffickers and contempt for the law?"
Now that's an interesting point, heldmyw. We already HAVE a "MAXI-Prohibition" going on, you know.
Check this out.
Bottled Water is a scam
March 27, 2008 - 20:31 ET by PopularTechThe Truth About Bottled Water (Video) (13min)
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
PT, I use bottled water, refilling the same container many times
March 27, 2008 - 21:26 ET by upcountrywaterThat's why Chicago wants to raise the tax, because of those evil home fillers, how dare they (filling without a permit)!
12 minutes into your video Pen & Teller say it's ok to buy bottled water if you want to .
Soon I hope to be selling air, soon the land fills will be full of USED air bags.
<wake up>SAVVVE The Whales N' Earth; conserve N' recycle !
IranianUranium<sleep>Infrastructure/repair?/ROFLMAO
Same here - I reuse the same water bottle
March 27, 2008 - 21:37 ET by PopularTechI have a plastic water bottle I wash in my dishwasher every night and refill from my EPA certified city tap water delivered right to my kitchen sink for the low price of my monthly water bill.
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
Wow.
March 29, 2008 - 09:25 ET by sarcasmoIf I'm not mistaken, a bunch of comments (not just mine, which was my usual "the problem is spending") recently disappeared from here...
JMR
A corruption-story the TV media will-not cover.