Posted on 07/15/2009 5:07:54 AM PDT by reaganaut1
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is proposing to raise about $10 billion a year to fix aging water and sewer systems by taxing the biggest users.
The legislation, which has sparked significant opposition from industry, is expected to be unveiled Wednesday at a news conference on Capitol Hill.
The bill calls for a 0.15% tax on any corporation earning a profit of more than $4 million a year. Manufacturers of any water-based beverages, excluding alcohol, would see a four-cent tax per container. Soaps, detergents, toiletries, toilet tissue, water softeners and cooking oils would face a 3% tax on wholesale prices. Pharmaceuticals would be taxed at 0.5% of the wholesale price.
...
A spokeswoman for Mr. Blumenauer said the trust fund created under the bill would bring in about $10 billion a year.
Concerns about the safety and integrity of water systems is a perennial concern, particularly in older cities. Recent water-main breaks in New York City have disrupted traffic and transit.
A U.S. Chamber of Commerce representative, Janet Kavinoky, said: "Anytime there's a broad base of general taxes being used to fund infrastructure, the chamber is going to take a close look at how that affects our members."
The chamber also has concerns that a federal subsidy for infrastructure repair could send a signal to local municipalities that they don't need to charge the real cost of providing water.
...
Kevin Keane, senior vice president of the American Beverage Association, said beverage companies would almost certainly raise their prices to help compensate for the tax. This is just another example of "raising taxes on the middle class," Mr. Keane said. [It] would just add to the burden of taxpayers at a time they are already facing economic struggles," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I just wish someone would hand these people a few deviled eggs - age undetermined.
Should I start bitching now about how my Federal Highway Use Tax (2290) dollars are being wasted?
I don’t mind paying taxes, mind you, but I would feel better about it if they were actually used for HIGHWAYS!
Next rant about FET (12%)....(of which I paid $126,000 last year from the sale of new hopper grain trailers)
Kiss my a$$ obama!!!!
They are out of control and they have only just begun to push too far.
Fact is, they have the votes to do anything they want.
You are exactly right that water and sewer are local responsibilities. I have to pay for the sewer service in my area, it makes no sense for someone in Milwaukee to pay for mine and me to pay for theirs. Other than to build a giant bureaucracy to administer a new federal program, and to provide another slush fund to fill a money trough for political cronies to guzzle from, this serves no purpose.
The Feds already have many unfunded mandates to municipalities for stormwater and sewers under the Clean Water Act and its many amendments. (I know, I’m a municipal officeholder). Sure, I’d love to have federal dollars to pay for what they require us to do. But it’s not a good idea, and because we will have to pay for the federal bureaucracy that oversees this program, our community and all other ones (except for those with connections and power in DC) will be “donor communities.” We won’t get back money in the same amount as we are taxed.
It’s just wrong.
FR post of the Day
“Trust fund”?????
Where have we heard THAT before, hmmmmm?”
Yep, this is just another tax and spend scheme that will tax us and spend more money on illegals and left wingers running non profit scams.
Nah. Someone out there is figuring out a way to tax the air we breathe. It's coming, you know it is coming!! //sarc// :- )
The soap tax won’t bother leftists. They usually don’t bathe and certainly stink up the place at their demonstrations. I went to one in L.A. and got no takers when I offered free soap. There was at least one honest young leftist protestor in the group. He had a sign — NO BLOOD FOR OIL. When I asked him how he got to the demonstration, he said, “OK, I’m a hypocrite. I drove my car.”
They should at least be honest and call it a flush fund instead of a slush fund.
By the time obama is done, we’ll be getting toilet paper with splinters in it.
Well... At the rate TOTUS is printing money, you won’t need to buy toilet paper. You can just stock on paper up at the bank.
I don’t think so. It isn’t a few, incremental, tax increases that is going to rile the nation’s sleeping, apathetic goofs. It’s going to be an “aha” moment such as we had with the “House Bank,” “Hillarycare,” or something such as that. After all, NY has steadily increased taxes since Alexander the Great’s time and no one complains.
It doesn’t pay to have a quality long lasting product. They don’t want it to last longer.
Is my tinfoil hat tighter than yours?
Nope, seems we’re both getting about the same waves through...
A. Local issue, not federal.
B. States and localities have been collecting taxes for maybe 225 years to support municipal projects sush as water and sewage. There does not need to be an additional tax.
>>>> They are just simply out of control, they have pushed too far. <<<<<
The states and localities have been discussing an “infrastructure surtax tax” for months, which makes me wonder what they’ve been doing with the non-surtax taxes for the last 50 years.
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