Back to the Grind

Hello Blogland, I am back from my completely unplanned vacation from blogging. When last we blogged I told you that my time was being used to prepare to take on City Hall and this bag “tax” that was being introduced. I am happy to report that while the issue has not been completely dropped the city council recognized that putting this into law was going to be no easy task and there were a lot of holes that needed to be filled.

I also made the local television news and was quoted in the paper. If you want to see me in action (recognizing that only soundbytes get used in these things) you can click here for the video( after the commercial).

Bag full of taxes

For any of my regular readers you know my posting has been a little light this past week, well there is a very good reason for that. Tomorrow I will be appearing before the City Council of Baltimore. A city councilman has introduced a bill that will charge a “surcharge” of 25 cent per plastic bag from any store in the Baltimore city area. In a economy that is already struggling and a city that was struggling long before that, you want to charge people a tax for basically grocery bags.


It is being introduced as a “green initiative”, a piece of legislature that would help the environment be free of plastic bags. Sounds great on the surface I know but what is the alternative? How do people on a fix income, people with no cars, people just ecking by as it is get their grocery’s home?


I also question how a bill proposed to deter people from using bags is being estimated to bring in a minimum of 1.6 million dollars in revenue?


Other cities have introduced similar legislature but it is on average between 4 and 6 cent. So tomorrow I am going to fight the power, and the research that I normally spend on my blogs has been spent on my day in council.


Wish me luck!!!!