Cash for Crappers Program
You can always count on the Tucson City Council for a good laugh. Today’s snort? A rebate program to replace that old toilet. Yes, that’s right its the Cash for Crappers program. Read on my friends…
Is your toilet a clunker?
Well, if it was made before 1991 and uses more than 3ƒ gallons per flush, then you’ve got a clunker.
And Tucson Water wants you to get rid of it. The utility is offering to pay half the cost of high-efficiency toilets for its customers to get rid of the water-wasting potties. The high-efficiency toilets use less than 1.3 gallons per flush. Mind you, these are not to be confused with low-flow toilets, which use about 1.6 gallons per flush.
So that works out to a savings of .3 gallon per flush. Heck, I could give up two beers and accomplish the same thing. Anyway… Who measures this stuff anyway and would you want to do this for a living? Not me. It’s like a scene from a CSI episode, only gone bad. Now this story gets even better so hold on to your seat (sorry had to do it).
This year the Tucson City Council budgeted $798,000 for water conservation rebates. The money also goes toward a toilet-replacement program for low-income residents and rebates for people who want to upgrade their irrigation systems so they use less water.
• Only high-efficiency toilet fixtures approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense program qualify for the rebate. The fixture must replace a toilet that was made before 1991 and uses 3.5 gallons per flush. • Toilets must be installed on properties receiving water from Tucson Water.• For residential customers, the rebate amount is limited to 50 percent of the purchase price with a maximum of $120 per toilet.• Old toilet fixtures must not be reused and must be rendered inoperable.• Participants in the rebate program must consent to an inspection of the property to verify purchase. • Fixtures replaced as part of a general construction permit, such as a house remodeling, do not qualify for the rebate.
Bob writes: Didn’t we just get hit with an increase in water rates because we were successfully conserving water? Can we now expect to get slammed with a sewer rate increase because we aren’t flushing enough to supply Pima County Wastewater with sufficient supply?
Steven writes: If that is the result, I propose flushing several (3 at least) city council members to make up for the reduced sewage!!!
Tags: cash for clunkers, city council, enviroment, rebate
won’t the city have to backwash the sewers when the s**t doesn’t run down hill? Isn’t the city gravity feed system? Don’t we need the water to push the s**t out?
how much more are we gonna take? can you say STOOPID?
Ms Drew, At some point in time in the not-to-distant-future, you are simply going to have to come out of your shell and tell us what you REALLY think. Keep it up!
Dear Papatodd,
First I want to congradulate you on joining the blogasphere. A new fresh voice is good to see. I read the entire interview you posted re Gifford, and am puzzled by your hostility. In the context of her interview what she seemed to be saying is that a public option is an essential element for meaningful health care reform and if she does nothing more than help bring that about she will have accomplished a great deal for her constituents and for the country at large. Now what’s wrong with that ? Even if you don’t agree with her, her position is certainly reasonable in that she has an obligation to help the large number of constituents who are hardworking but poor american citizens who can’t afford the private insurance, or even worse, have been turned down on health grounds by the private carriers. Get real: if you like what you have keep it. That’s plain as day. If you actually believe that our bungling, incompetent govt. can’t handle it successfully, [and by successful, I mean better services for the same or less money] what are you scared of? If the industry can’t complete with the big bad bureaucrats they’ll just have to learn how to do so like I did when I was in businesss—the insurance business by the way.On the one hand the industry boasts how good it is. On the other in cries that the government will put them out of business.
If you gave the subject some real thought you would ask yourself why the industry is spending about 1 & 1/2 million a DAY to kill not just universal health care [a one payer system controlled by the govt. which I appose as too radical] , but an optional plan offered through medicare which people can either accept or reject. One thing everybody who has studied the subject agrees on: we cannot afford the system we have. It’s double the cost of anything in western europe and compared to them the patient outcomes are poorer.
Right now the insurance industry can insure or reject whoever they want. The policies are written one year at a time so the companies can refuse to renew. You complain that bureaucrats will determine whether or not to honor claims that do occur. That’s exactly what the ins. companies do every day. Maybe you aren’t aware of the fact that the industry has the country by the short hairs. Premiums have risen as much as FOUR HUNDRED PERCENT over the past 10 years. My daughter and her family were paying $1,200 PER MONTH to cover 2 adults & two children. This year she had to drop it for a catastrophe policy with a $20,000 deductable because they had NO OTHER CHOICE!
Why don’t well meaning but obviously uninformed people like you stop banging a drum to
prevent people who need help with this problem from getting it?
I hope you have the guts to come up with a reasoned reply and not give my comments
a pass.
Herb
Dear Mr. Herb,
I happen to be a person( a person with a family) who chooses to remain insurance-less(if that is a word). I am not fond of Doctors, Hospitals, or other establishments, and am definitely less fond of having to pay someone to tell me where I can and can’t go to get medical help if I should need it. I know that many people think I am crazy, but THIS IS MY CHOICE. I pay cash for all my medical expenses,including my children’s stuff (and that can be a lot sometimes.) I have yet to meet a Dr. who wont take cash. I get fabulous care.
Under the current bill in the front of the American People, starting on page 167, I the Chosen uninsured, or in the bill’s words”without acceptable health care coverage”will have a tax imposed on me equal to 2.5 percent of my income (gross) not to exceed the applicable national average premium for such taxable year.
PLUS, as head of household, I will have the “imposition” of an extra 8% for endangering my children.
WHERE IS MY FREEDOM TO KEEP WHAT I LIKE??????
I hope that you are not one of those people who just listens to their public congressperson/president, without reading the information in front of them, and trusts other people with thier futures.
I am offended by this bill.
Dear Herb,
I do not want the government involved with MY helath care for three reasons. #1 The government cannot be trusted to stay iwithin a budget. They NEVER have brought out a proram the did not exceed their budget. Example: Cash for Clunkers. Supposed to be a $1 billion dollar pragram, oops the feds were wrong, so they tripled down on it. #2 The feds cannot operate with ANY effectiveness. Example: Remember FEMA during hurricane Katrina? Want that system runnignyour family’s healthcare? How about Amtrak, the post office (a monopoly and they still can’t turn a profit), or our own public school system(we are not in the top ten in the industrialized world)? #3 The govermnet would rather pay crooks then manage efficiently. Freddie and Fanny? Subprime? Even witht the federal govenment in “charge”, even with al of their “oversight”, we still ended up with one of the biggest financial disasters in the history iof the US. Where are the investigations? Have ANY charges been filed for wrongdoings commited by any of the parties involved? NOPE! They ALL got a pass.
Now let’s deal with the cost. President Obama is disingenuous when he uses the “fact that insurance prices have doubled or tripled in the last ten years. So has everything else in your life. What did you pay for a gallon of gas or a gallon of milk ten years ago? Gas has gone up 300% in the same time period. everythign has gone up, so what’s the point?
When it comes to my government, I tend to look at results and not intentions. We all have good intentions (well, except for that little Korean dictator), but when its all said and done, Just what did we accomplish? The reason the focus needs to be on the results comes from the facts that these people have complete control over billions of our money and are never held accountable for the results of the decisons they make. In the real world, all that matters is results. If you think I’m wrong, just go ask your boss and he’ll make you a believer.
Thank you Ms Drew.
Good for you! It is obvious that your healthcare plan is to CARE FOR YOUR HEALTH. What a novel concept, taking care of your family instead of waiting for the government handout. Be careful though, if the Feds get inot your healthcare life, you will be FINED for making that personal choice. Hope and change baby.
Herb here is the PERFECT example why I do not want ANY politicain involved in MY healthcae.From the AP wire
[Budget director Peter] Orszag, anticipating backlash over the deficit numbers [you think?], conceded that the long-term deficits are “higher than desirable.” [You think?] The annual negative balances amount to about 4 percent of the gross domestic product, a number that many economists say is unsustainable [you think?].
But Orszag also argued that overhauling the health system would reduce health care costs and address the biggest contributor to higher deficits.
Thanks goodness for ObamaCare; we can balance the budget with huge cuts in health care.
@herb
@ Herb: I know PapaTodd, and I think it’s pretty safe to say that he is one of the MOST INFORMED individuals there is in regards to these subjects. You’d be wise to follow him a bit longer to see for yourself just how much his insights hit the nail squarely on the head.
But flaming him from the get-go is just plain stupid. Sorry, but you didn’t gain much credibility for your viewpoints.
And … I’d march to PapaTodd’s drum any day. What makes me sick is that there are so many Obamaphants who blindly march to his death knoll, all the while singing his praises.
Wake up sheeple. Wake up Herb!
Thansk so much Mike, Your check will be in the mail….
@PT
Dear Nancy,
Thank you for your comments. I respect and appreciate your viewpoint however I can’t agree with it for several reasons:
Going it alone is your right but what happens if [God forbid] disaster strikes and the bills are substancially more than you can afford? The majority of home forclosurers of employed people are the consequence of an inability to pay for such medical bills, and the majority of those people HAD coverage; unfortunately inadequate to their needs. Bankrupt and dislocated, these unfortunates families number in the hundreds of thousands. I’m sure you are a responsible person but noone is immune to such things. The shame lies in failing to take steps to protect yourself and your family before such an event. All Obama and about 70% of the public is asking for is a public OPTION, and the inability of the private industry to cherry pick based on prexisting health conditions. Is this unreasonable to you?
Herb
Dear Mr. Claridge,
I’ll accept your appraisal of PopaTodd for the sake of argument. I thought his description of Gifford’s comments were misunderstood and over the top. I hope to follow his future comments. If you are suggesting that I’m a blind marcher to Obama’s tune based on my brief commects, you my friend appear to be suffering from myopia, not I.
@Michael Claridge