With an eye toward raking in $10 billion a year, a bi-partisan group of Congressmen has introduced legislation to impose excise taxes on a whole host of products, some very basic like water and toilet tissue, and on corporations. 

The “Water Protection and Reinvestment Act,” H.R. 3202, is predicted to establish a $10 billion annual fund for repairing America’s corroded pipes and overburdened sewer systems, says Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore), Mike Simpson (R-ID), Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), Tom Petri (R-Wis.), and Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio). In order to generate enough revenue to kick off the “trust fund” some pretty hefty excise taxes will have to be imposed upon the working man and consumers again, in addition to the sales taxes already being paid.

Like most of the schlock being paraded as legislation these days, this bill is supposedly intended to protect the public health, restore the environment, create new jobs, and reduce pollution. The fund it creates for this purpose will be structured like the Highway Trust Fund. Some of the new taxes to be used to generate revenue for the fund will be applied to water based beverages, pharmaceuticals, product disposal, and corporate profits.

Water based beverages will be taxed at the rate of 4 cents per container. This includes “glass, cans, plastic & other containers of water based beverages 5 gallons in size or less.” It does not include alcohol, milk, or juice.

Products that are discarded or flushed will be taxed at the rate of 3 percent of the wholesale price. These include soaps and detergents, cosmetics, toothpaste, toilet tissue, water softening products, and cooking oils.

All pharmaceuticals, imported or domestic, will be taxed at .5 percent. The rationale for this one is that birth control potions, and antibiotics, mostly from massive agricultural use, end up in ground water and in lakes and streams. Therefore all pharma products must be taxed and taxed again in order to fund a “drug take back” program that would somehow reclaim the drugs and cleanse the waters.

Any corporate profit over $4 million, small potatoes for this day and age, will be taxed an additional .15 percent if that corporation uses drinking and clean water infrastructure and depends on its functioning to support their businesses. (I’ll bet they could stretch this one a mile or two.) But I have news for the uninitiated: corporations don’t pay taxes, only people do.  Corporations almost always pass taxes on to the consumers in higher product prices.

Everyone who uses these products will be taxed and taxed, even though many rural residents don’t use municipal water and sewer services. The bill is being sold especially to rural communities that do have their own water and sewer systems and are facing budget crunches, making it a bit difficult to turn down another handout from the feds.

The Rural Community Assistance Partnership, a federally funded non-profit, is greasing the wheels on this one, as is National Utility Contractors Association, who might end up with a contract or two; and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, environmental policy shapers who are experts in helping secure federal funds for municipalities. A variety of green environmental coalitions and agencies support the bill, as well as the American Society of Engineers. 

The bill is not likely to keep water and sewer rates low, as predicted. Neither will it create the 200,000 to 267,000 jobs the bill's summary says “it could.”

What it will do is create more financial stress on the average American.

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danwhitehead1 said:

	And again - - - - - - theft and tyranny for "our own good". Oh how I would love to see them all struck down...literally.
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July 24, 2009
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Peter Steele said:

	State Department Watch and Americans For Sovereignty I am going to make sure that the Wrangell Islands in Alaska are not handed over to greedy Russian rulers and I'm giving all my help to Americans for Sovereignty bexause I want America to be independent and free based on our Declaration of Indpendence.
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July 28, 2009
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Jeff9 said:

... This is just another in a long list of reasons why you need to stop using toilet paper, or at least lower your usage. Add Bathroom Bidet Sprayers to all your bathrooms and you won't even need toilet paper any more, just a towel to dry off! Don’t worry, you can still leave some out for guests and can even make it the soft stuff without feeling guilty. It's cheap and can be installed without a plumber; and runs off the same water line to your toilet. You'll probably pay for it in a few months of toilet paper savings. Available at www.bathroomsprayers.com these sprayers are clean, green and soon now can even save you money on your taxes.

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August 01, 2009
Votes: +0