Florida (Democratic) Lawmaker Seeks Toilet Paper Tax
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You knew sooner or later even shit would be taxed. Apparently the Democrats in Florida can't bring themselves to do that yet, so they're (at least one of them) looking at the next best thing. Taxing Toilet Paper.
Headline is linked. (From My Way News)
Florida Lawmaker Seeks Toilet Paper Tax
Mar 10, 8:54 PM (ET)
By DAVID ROYSE
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida's Legislature is flush with good ideas. Sen. Al Lawson's involves a 2 cent-per-roll tax on toilet paper to pay for wastewater treatment and help small towns upgrade their sewer systems.
The Democratic lawmaker's pay-as-you-go bill has been the source of many jokes - bathroom humor you might say - but he says the issue is a serious one, especially in some of the fast-growing Panhandle coastal counties in his district.
"They're experiencing a tremendous boom in growth and they're not able to accommodate the growth," Lawson said. "We've got 17 million people in this state and all of them can contribute to protecting our underground water supply."
In a Republican-dominated Legislature that doesn't like new taxes, the idea is likely to pretty quickly end up in the tank.
Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said he didn't think it would get too far, but didn't rule it out.
"We'll be getting to the bottom of it real soon," Lee said.
The House is skeptical as well.
"We're not wild about tax increases," said House Speaker Allan Bense, R-Panama City. "But we'll certainly let it go through the system."
If it were to pass, the extra two pennies would start being charged in October. Lawson said it could generate $50 million a year.
It would also need approval from Gov. Jeb Bush. He said that if toilet paper is taxed, people might use less of it.
"That's not necessarily a good thing," noted the governor.
And what about consumers? Wouldn't they be squeezed by a tax on the Charmin?
No, says Lawson.
"Two cents is not going to hurt families at all," he said. "This is one thing people don't mind paying for."
You know, in clipping this article and adding this information to my blog, I'm sitting here thinking that a tax on Shit might not be a bad thing -- at least not for me. People like Dabe (who is full of), the COL (who is always spreading B.S.) and a few other liberals that might pay a hefty tax could help bail the entire United States out of debt (which would make the COL very happy, since he is hyper concerned with the national debt and spending, maybe even happy enough to shit a few bricks and pay even more in taxes.
Taxing Toilet Paper doesn't seem that harmful all things considered, but it certainly puts us on a slippery slope (maybe even wet and wild). Where does the hunt for new revenue end? If taxing toilet paper doesn't raise enough money, do we literally start measuring the piles of fecal matter coming from peoples home and tax more directly to the source?
Ugh, what a mess.
How about applying some sense here? How about charging user fees that directly impact people that use the sewer and water systems? I assume that there's water meters in place that help to ensure that people pay for the water they use. Can we not make sure that (as is done in many areas, I believe Maryland included) the builders of these homes going into localities with strained facilities pay fees that are used to pay for new sewers, roads and other infrastructure items?
I am reminded in typing these thoughts that years ago, as I helped run my grandparents country store and work the cash register there that in Maryland toilet paper is a taxable purchase, while most food products (which produce the output that the toilet paper is needed for) are not. Apparently along the way the state had decided that food items are a necessity and toilet paper is not. For whom toilet paper is not a necessity, I'm not sure, and I'm not sure I'd want to know. As Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida notes, it's not necessarily smart to encourage less use of toilet paper. Personal hygiene can be traced to spreadable diseases, and doing anything that would discourage good hygiene would be pretty counter productive.
Anyway, be wary, as you know sooner or later a shit tax is coming. When it does, thank the liberals around you as you can be sure they will be paying more taxes from the stuff they spew forth.
Headline is linked. (From My Way News)
Florida Lawmaker Seeks Toilet Paper Tax
Mar 10, 8:54 PM (ET)
By DAVID ROYSE
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida's Legislature is flush with good ideas. Sen. Al Lawson's involves a 2 cent-per-roll tax on toilet paper to pay for wastewater treatment and help small towns upgrade their sewer systems.
The Democratic lawmaker's pay-as-you-go bill has been the source of many jokes - bathroom humor you might say - but he says the issue is a serious one, especially in some of the fast-growing Panhandle coastal counties in his district.
"They're experiencing a tremendous boom in growth and they're not able to accommodate the growth," Lawson said. "We've got 17 million people in this state and all of them can contribute to protecting our underground water supply."
In a Republican-dominated Legislature that doesn't like new taxes, the idea is likely to pretty quickly end up in the tank.
Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said he didn't think it would get too far, but didn't rule it out.
"We'll be getting to the bottom of it real soon," Lee said.
The House is skeptical as well.
"We're not wild about tax increases," said House Speaker Allan Bense, R-Panama City. "But we'll certainly let it go through the system."
If it were to pass, the extra two pennies would start being charged in October. Lawson said it could generate $50 million a year.
It would also need approval from Gov. Jeb Bush. He said that if toilet paper is taxed, people might use less of it.
"That's not necessarily a good thing," noted the governor.
And what about consumers? Wouldn't they be squeezed by a tax on the Charmin?
No, says Lawson.
"Two cents is not going to hurt families at all," he said. "This is one thing people don't mind paying for."
You know, in clipping this article and adding this information to my blog, I'm sitting here thinking that a tax on Shit might not be a bad thing -- at least not for me. People like Dabe (who is full of), the COL (who is always spreading B.S.) and a few other liberals that might pay a hefty tax could help bail the entire United States out of debt (which would make the COL very happy, since he is hyper concerned with the national debt and spending, maybe even happy enough to shit a few bricks and pay even more in taxes.
Taxing Toilet Paper doesn't seem that harmful all things considered, but it certainly puts us on a slippery slope (maybe even wet and wild). Where does the hunt for new revenue end? If taxing toilet paper doesn't raise enough money, do we literally start measuring the piles of fecal matter coming from peoples home and tax more directly to the source?
Ugh, what a mess.
How about applying some sense here? How about charging user fees that directly impact people that use the sewer and water systems? I assume that there's water meters in place that help to ensure that people pay for the water they use. Can we not make sure that (as is done in many areas, I believe Maryland included) the builders of these homes going into localities with strained facilities pay fees that are used to pay for new sewers, roads and other infrastructure items?
I am reminded in typing these thoughts that years ago, as I helped run my grandparents country store and work the cash register there that in Maryland toilet paper is a taxable purchase, while most food products (which produce the output that the toilet paper is needed for) are not. Apparently along the way the state had decided that food items are a necessity and toilet paper is not. For whom toilet paper is not a necessity, I'm not sure, and I'm not sure I'd want to know. As Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida notes, it's not necessarily smart to encourage less use of toilet paper. Personal hygiene can be traced to spreadable diseases, and doing anything that would discourage good hygiene would be pretty counter productive.
Anyway, be wary, as you know sooner or later a shit tax is coming. When it does, thank the liberals around you as you can be sure they will be paying more taxes from the stuff they spew forth.