patrick.net

Bap33 Says:
HeadSet … I am in the public water profession and I agree with you 100%. People waste water like crazy. Only 3% of the water produced for public use is consumed. But, 100% of the water produced has to be ridiculously perfect. My thought’s for a remedy are different though. I think we should capture the grey waste water (everything but the toilet) seperate at each subdivision ( just an example, and a lift station is pretty common at each subdivison and a lift station would be a great collection point) - anyways - a waste water system, a simple pre-treatment system for a seperate non-potable(means not for human consumption...

bap, we need you here... I'll put you onto The Greens, and Sydney Water CEO ;)

Jimbo, The vast majority of tax is based on income - especially at the federal level where most of the taxes are collected. Income taxes provide the majority of the federal government’s revenue. When you include Social Security taxes (also a tax on income) the total share of revenue generated by taxing income is about 93%. So, only 7% of the federal revenues come from other sources.

As for sales taxes and use taxes being regressive – that is misleading. The rich spend more than the poor so they pay much more of these taxes as well. And the sales tax or a VAT could be made very progressive by exempting basic necessities, thus pushing the tax to discretionary and luxury purchases.

Tax hummers not corollas, tax dinners out not groceries, tax jewelry, yachts and travel, not medicine, food and shelter, etc.

bap, you would be feted by The Greens and Sydney Water in equal measure ;)

You could have a look at their websites in turn, although there are probably very similar analogous organisations in CA. Sydney Water are desperate to save water these days, and are looking for innovations.

I'll try to suppress the hyperlinks switching on, just add a www:
greens.com.au
sydneywater.com.au

Some key differences:
- Big biting creatures are OPTIONAL, depending on location
- Benies come FREE from the welfare state, regardless of work status
- Private health insurance is therefore OPTIONAL
- Voting is COMPULSORY
- Housing is still expensive :( (until they effect my policies, or the peasants revolt, whichever comes first)

More importantly, you could get one of these, courtesy of Casey Serin's photo library...

greens.org.au, what am i thinking...

hate the SUV fad as well. And it is a fad. People own SUVs for the same reason people wore disco garb in the 70s - to fit in.

Maybe in the cities but in the suburbs not so much. I think people out here generally have more kids and a mini-van or an SUV is much easier to cart around 3+ kids in. I had a mini-van and hated the thing--it drove like crap.

I've mentioned my shameful ownership of an SUV before, but I don't really regret having one. It's just too darned convenient. I don't use any more in gas than I did with a mini-van and where I live there is no stigma to owning one. One of my mom's best friends has been driving Chevy Suburbans since the 70's so they've been around awhile. The only thing that has really changed is that we've gone from the traditional station wagon to mini-vans and SUVs.

I think the social influences come in where things like Hummers are concerned. They are definitely for show since they have no cargo space. Even in the suburbs we don't really get the whole Hummer phenomenon.

Looks like they learned their lessons from the Tulip mania days.