Buy Our Water or Else

Now that Chicago has solved the homeless problem the can move on to other vitally important issues - like bottled water. Look at the rational offered by one alderman who wants to impose a 25 cent tax on every bottle:

“People enjoy jogging or driving with a bottle of water. There’s a cost associated with this behavior. You have to pay for it,” said Cardenas, one of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s staunchest City Council supporters.

Cardenas noted that there’s a nearly $40 million shortfall in the city’s water and sewer funds, in part because of a decline in water usage.

“How is this possible when we have a water system that’s won honors? It’s because bottled water has become a $15 billion industry that’s growing at a rate of 20 to 30 percent a year,” he said.

I'm surprised he didn't pull the global warming argument out first, but he did eventually suggest that the tax would keep people from filling landfills with the dreaded bottles.



And what cost is associated with jogging that requires a tax on portable refreshment? Excessive wear on city sidewalks? Toxic rubber debris from jogging shoes?



They'll have trouble getting much support for this tax. Vice taxes such as those on tobacco or alcohol usually don't have much opposition since only a small percentage of people use those products to excess, but bottled water is a pretty popular product and politicians who insist on balancing the budget with silly taxes may find themselves looking for other work.