Posted on 02/17/2009 5:11:05 AM PST by andrew roman
With the Obamacrats in charge of things now, one thing this country does not need is a new idea from a foreign nation on how to raise revenue in the form a brand new tax. Heaven knows that American liberals are practically second-to-none - veritable trendsetters and mold breakers - at attempting to siphon money from the private sector in the name of reinvestment and stimulus.
In that spirit, one can only hope that Democrats aren't paying too much attention to the news coming from Down Under reporting that Australia wants to attack its water shortage woes by charging its citizens by the flush - a genuine toilet tax.
From Perth Now:
The scheme would replace the current system, which sees sewage charges based on a home's value - not its waste water output.
(Excerpt) Read more at romanaround.net ...
I always question other cultures, but the English speaking, including Brits, Aussies and Americans are the most self destructive people on the planet. What is wrong with us?
???? In my entire adult memory, I have always neen charged a water/sewage fee based on gallons of water usage, not home value. That’s why most homes are metered.
Is my experience “unusual”? Or is this a non-story?
Man the value of the dollar must be really plummeting if Aussies are using it for TP.
Having lived there and seen these sewerage fees escalate out of sight as the home prices appreciated (our sewerage bills were $6,000 a year for a family of four who were away from home all day at work and school), this sounds much more logical.
Ditto. They figured that a certain percentage of the water used ends up in the sewer somehow, either washing machine, dishwasher, toilet, etc. Per flush is idiotic. The cost of installing a monitoring system would be considerable.
My water is metered, my sewage is based on water usage. This sucks if you use water for growing plants or washing cars.
The Romans started it. The nerve of them to get rid of poop in the streets.
Huh?
It’s stuff like this that makes me want to tear off a Liberal’s head and piss down the hole.
If it's brown, flush it down.
You think that's bad, try having a 30X15 above ground pool.
LOL!
Perfect reply.
Andrew Roman
Brooklyn, NY
Indeed, in the United States, the vast majority of Americans pay their water and sewage bills based on usage. But that’s not exactly what this Australian measure aims to do - not in the same sense that most Americans understand it.
Along with a yet to be determined base rate, Aussies are going to be charged, quite literally, by the flush. And don’t think for a moment this will be any sort of money saver for Aussies. Nowhere in the story is there any mention of how this will ease sewage rates or how its projected to be good for consumers economically. This is only about saving water ... and ultimately, more government involvement in the most personal of activities.
Note that in the story, a suburban community of Houston, Texas was cited as an example of where such a pricing scheme has worked. If this were your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, everyday sewage pricing scheme - as is used practically everywhere across the United States - the story would have specified that Australia is trying to move toward a system commonly used all over America.
It did not.
This is a tax-per-flush scheme.
I sincerely hope Democrats are not paying attention.
Andrew Roman
Brooklyn, NY
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