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The Public Policy
The Giant Flushing Sound
It's become passé to compare government spending with flushing taxpayer dollars down the porcelain pedestal. This is the age of porkulus, after all. When lawmakers view a $787 billion stimulus package as a pared-down compromise, analogies between government waste and, well, certain flushing functions lose their originality.
But I'm going to be a prig and do it anyway.
Reports about new taxes in foreign countries always worry me because I know these ploys will end up in the United States sooner rather than later.
Case in point: Australia's proposed toilet tax. Yes, you read that right. In addition to alliterating well, the toilet tax is supposed to fight the Outback's "epic drought" (as described by the Independent World).
The move would abolish Australia's current system of sewage charges, which is based on property value, and replace it with a per-flush tax. Think of it as a pay-as-you-go system.
One representative of the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization suggested the toilet tax would help prepare the country for "the potential impact of climate change," according to the Sunday Telegraph.
He didn't explain how conserving toilet flushes would conserve the polar ice caps. But I can easily picture an environmentalist ad campaign that encourages homeowners to buy energy-efficient toilets to prevent the arctic plumbing from overflowing.
Lest you mistake the concept of taxing toilets an invention peculiar to European nations and that former penal-colony down under, think again. The toilet Stasi is alive and well in the land of the free, too. Fighting the giant bogeyman of global warming seems the underlying rationale for most bathroom-related initiatives.
Take Cary, North Carolina, as an example. Known for enacting its share of Soviet-style restrictions, this affluent suburb of Raleigh has now entered the one room you thought Big Brother would never touch: the bathroom.
The Cary town council approved a rebate program for energy-efficient toilets last year. The goal was to get homeowners to ditch their water-hogging models in favor of EPA-designated WaterSense toilets that use 1.3 gallons per flush. Those who make the swap get a $150 rebate.
The EPA claims that, in many cases, a "WaterSense labeled toilet can pay for itself in only a few years." But homeowners in Cary would only save a couple bucks a month on their utility bill for each toilet. Some residents are willing to make that tradeoff, but should the town encourage it through taxpayer-sponsored rebates?
Including extra funds devoted to the program in October, Cary has spent a total of $89,000 on the retrofit, according to the town's budget office. The town carries $27 million in debt service for fiscal year 2009, up 12 percent from last year, and has $303 million in overall debt. Sounds like a scenario for tightening the fiscal belt, not embarking on (no doubt well-intentioned) environmentalist crusades.
Unfortunately, Cary is not alone in its toilet swap. In fact, many county and municipal governments offer residents incentives for buying energy-efficient models. Saving water and money is a laudable goal, but government should let individuals make that determination. Some value water conservation; others can't afford a sleek toilet that has a not-so-sleek price tag. Let the market decide.
Even though the program doesn't make sense economically for consumers, and even though local governments can scarcely afford environmentalist endeavors in these uncertain times, the toilet crusade will march on. Few politicians will dare join the loyal opposition. Doing so would risk being labeled anti-green, a political death knell in the age of global warming alarmism.
Don't expect the issue to go away, either. Australia's toilet strategy could soon be a reality in the United States, especially as global warming phobia increases and the Obama administration takes steps to create a "sustainable" country, however much it costs. Look for the flushing sound to get louder.
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frost| 2.27.09 @ 7:43AM
Flushing "taxpayer dollars" down the toilet is bad enough, but, alas, I fear that our Once Great COUNTRY is being resoundingly flushed down the crapper.
And, no, party labels have little to do with it; Dubya was an awful president, ranks down there with Buchanan, Pierce, Tyler, LBJ and Grant, not quite as low as Jimmy Carter. But this guy, Obama, will probably complete the job, and it's scary - - not for me, I'm old - - but for our kids and their children.
It will take another TeaParty or revolution of some sort, really -- and, yes, I did just purchase another 500 rounds of Remington's best, and shall continue buying a brick-a-month...
Where's the next Barry Goldwater? Or someone with the cajones to get us out of the mire? Or, have we simply lost -- outvoted by the "Something-for-Nothing" bunch and neo-Marxists?
Perhaps it's time to forget about Planned Parenthood, gay crap and the "social" trivia and get the priorities in order - - we're in mighty deep trouble! The future for our nation appears very, very sad.
dcd| 2.27.09 @ 8:08AM
a bit more pay as you go for government services sounds good to me. Let the highway users pay through tolls rather than foisting an inflated highway bill on everyone. It could work for things from airports to sewers.
Alan Brooks| 2.27.09 @ 9:19AM
soon airlines will be charging per flush.
stmichrick| 2.27.09 @ 9:27AM
The Obama administration marks the official start of The Age of Foolishness. The advent of this period is marked by the following elements of a Perfect Storm:
Global Warming acceptance
Universal Health Care
Soaking the Rich (more)
Shrinking Defense Spending
American Idol Presidency
We're screwed.
Pingback| 2.27.09 @ 9:47AM
Right Angles » Blog Archive » Cary’s Toilet Tales links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 2.27.09 @ 9:51AM
Why are you surprised? A variation of this has already been proposed by various states and an Obama staffed federal committee of environmental lunatics.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090227/ap_on_go_ot/mileage_tax
Raise federal gasoline taxes to help pay for road projects?
Not during a recession, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has said.
Then how about moving toward a system that finances highway construction by charging motorists by the mile?
When LaHood suggested last week that be considered among other potential financing schemes, he got bushwhacked by the White House. "It is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration," the president's press secretary said.
With the administration's position seemingly clear, a special commission created by Congress is nonetheless endorsing those two ideas.
Its report Thursday warns that if government fails to find a new way to raise money, "we will suffer grim consequences in the future: unimaginable levels of congestion, reduced safety, costlier goods and services, an eroded quality of life, and diminished economic competitiveness as a nation."
Sons Of Sam| 2.27.09 @ 1:45PM
This regime of criminals and lunatics is hell-bent on forcing a stimulus bill, having Social Security scarf down your 401k, dragooning us into socialized medicine and putting us under the supervision of the poop police because THEY WANT TO DESTROY THE MIDDLE CLASS. Arguing that "none of these programs will work" is ignoring the point. They are designed to fail; the only reason they exist is to bind a free people hand and foot and toss us into the dungeon of Marxist tyranny
http://www.geocities.com/samadamssos
S.O.S.
Crusader| 2.27.09 @ 2:01PM
See I did this scientific-like study funded by Algore and based on chaos theory. You know, the one that says when the butterfly flaps his wings in the Amazon it causes a hurricane in Florida? Well, every time you flush an old school toilet another 100 cubic feet of polar ice melts! Its an inconvenient truth.
We found that is you limit flushes to 1.3 gallons of water the ice doesn't melt. 1.31+ and not only are you flushing that turd away, you are also flushing away 100 cubic feet of polar ice. Its chaos, man!
Lefties want gubmint out of the bedroom but in the bathroom. Do you think they are even conscious of their hypocrisy?
Jim Turner| 2.27.09 @ 6:53PM
We already do that here - most sewer rates are based on water usage, so the more you flush, the more you pay, seems fair to me.
Andrea| 2.28.09 @ 1:18PM
I understand the economics and budgetary issues, but think the point is that Water is our most important resource. If we don't have water, we have no infrastructure or economy to speak of. So, while these toilet rebate programs will be a hit for any city/ community to begin with, the long term effects are well worth it. Less water being flused down the toilet means less waste water that needs treatment, resulting in less energy used etc etc...I am strongly convinced that this is a win-win. It will also stimulate the economy, Sales of these toilets will increase, Plumbers will be needed....
Marc Jeric| 2.28.09 @ 3:36PM
Talking about water reminds me of the happening in California during Moonbeam Brown governorship in the 1970's. For at least the last 60 million years there is a cycle dry-wet-normal rain season of about 11 years in the West. You know - 3 dry years, 3 wet years, 4 normal rainfall years. So in the second dry year Brown established a new state government office called "Drought Control and Administration" - yes, they will control and administer this 11-year solar cycle. I visited their new offices in Los Angeles - 3 floors in a high-rise with the huge bronze plaque telling everybody their name, with 1500 new unionized state employees. Immediately this office instituted penalties for car washing by home owners and excessive sprinkling of big gardens, raise tariffs for the rich and lower them for the poor, and mandated low flush toilets for new construction together with forced replacement of old water-wasting toilets. The bureaucrats also required that the shower heads by redesigned for smaller throughput. They never recommended that the new reservoirs be constructed so the dry years would be covered. Well, the following year was one of the wet ones, and I visited their offices in downtown LA again. They added a 4th floor to accommodate additional 300 employees. Also, that big bronze plaque was covered with the temporary carton telling us their new name, namely "Flood Control and Administration". Do you get the drift of this true story?
Brat Magursky| 3.2.09 @ 1:11PM
Even as we speak I am digging a deep hole in the woods just a short walk from my house...I guess then i'll get in trouble with the EPA for illegal dumping ! We just need to submit & sign a form admitting that our democratic republic is dead & we agree to grow up & just move on.org!
Herb Schneider| 3.2.09 @ 4:14PM
I was surprised to read no comments on how poorly the low-flow toilets do their job. I have several, of various brands, at both my home and my business premises, which frequently back up (which requires a visit from the plumber) or need multiple flushes to clear. They may save a little water, but they don't save any money when repair costs are factored in.
Lucy| 8.4.09 @ 2:23PM
Just use a retrofit valve like the one from SelectAFlush and put it into your 2 piece toilet. It converts a standard 2 piece toilet into a dual flush toilet for only abt $24.95. Check out the website at www.dualflushkit.com. This is a much easier solution to a complex problem!
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