Politicians get so used to taxing everything that they think people will up with a tax on anything. But if what you're buying is an indefensible luxury in the first place, people aren't likely to keep indulging as their discretionary income gets eaten away:
Are Chicagoans trekking to the suburbs to buy cases of bottled water -- and avoid a new nickel-a-container tax that adds $1.20 to the price of a 24-pack? Or are they making the switch to tap water to save money?
One or the other is happening. Maybe both.
Revenues from Chicago's new bottled water tax are trickling in -- at a rate nearly 40 percent below projections -- exacerbating a budget crunch that has already prompted Mayor Daley to order $20 million in spending cuts.
Nobody could see this coming? "Ruthless" has apparently substituted for "smart" a little too long in Chicago.
