The Insipid Bag Tax

This article sums up my feelings about this stupid, insipid, nonsensical, idiotic bag tax.

The owners of Chocolate Moose, which sells quirky gifts and jewelry as well as candy, were certain the tax didn't apply to them. Although they received the notice the district sent to all retail food establishments, candy accounts for just 10% or 20% of sales, says co-owner Marcia Levi. "I don't consider myself a food establishment," she says. When another store owner asked what she was going to do about the regulation, she decided to call the city, just to be on the safe side. "I explained to them the situation—that only a small part of my business is food," she said. "They said it does not matter."

The minutiae of the law.

The law specifically excludes bags that "package bulk items, such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, candy, or small hardware items." It also excludes those that "contain or wrap frozen foods, meat, or fish...flowers, potted plants, or other items where dampness may be a problem." Other exceptions include unwrapped prepared foods and bakery goods, as well as bags provided by pharmacists to contain prescription drugs, newspaper bags, door-hanger bags and laundry dry-cleaning bags. Also tax free: "Bags sold in packages containing multiple bags intended for use as garbage, pet waste, or yard waste bags."

Seriously, a "user fee" like this is a tax. I already pay enough in taxes, and yes, I am extremely skeptical that this is going toward so-called clean-up efforts for the Anacostia river. Seriously, how do these plastic CVS and Safeway bags end up in the water? And if you live NOWHERE near the river, really, do those bags bought in Georgetown or anywhere in NW or NE end up in the river? No. If anything, tax the shops that border the river. Or just ban all plastic bags and make paper ones free. By charging for paper bags, and letting shopkeepers keep some of the profits, then it defeats the purpose of cleaning the river. Because the river won't need to be cleaned, unless paper bags are needlessly polluting it.

Argh. I get angry even thinking about it.

For more fury, read this thread.