Quinn Kills 5 Cent Plastic Bag Fee, Tax on Clothes

So out of all the questionable policies of Mr. Bloomberg's administration, she decides to prevent one of the good ones (5c tax on plastic bags). I believe Mrs. Quinn is the worst politican of them all.

Congestion pricing, this...Fail

In most supermarkets there is no practical way to count how many bags are used without a significant impact on the productivity of grocery store cashiers. No one seems to have bothered reporting this angle, but I would imagine the supermarket owners, and possibly the labor unions as well, lobbied to this effect.

"productivity of grocery store cashiers"

LOL. What a concept. Whatever that "productivity" may be, it couldn't get any worse.

"Dedicated to the hardworking bag boys of America ...

... whose ineptness and greed were the inspiration for this episode."

--simpsons: seventeenth episode, twelfth season

"Dedicated to the hardworking bag boys of America ...

... whose ineptness and greed were the inspiration for this episode."

--simpsons: seventeenth episode, twelfth season

Well at least we know what Quinn's wardrobe budget is.

Three cheers for this plastic bag tax; it's absolutely RIDICULOUS how stores will automatically double bag everything. One supermarket employee even tried to double bag the reusable insulated shopping bag that I bought from the store!

quinny is a true environmentalist. a tax on plastic bags would lead to less floating plastic in the oceans which in turn would allow the sea turtle population to explode, leading to a total collapse of the earth's ecosystem.

good work quinny, keep it up!

Most of the times I get bags and have no use for them. At Duane Reade they will automatically give you a tiny bag even just for a pack of gum, and I have to tell them every time that I don't want them. They're so small I can't even use them as a garbage liner. If stores didn't automatically give them out and even taxed them, people would realize most of the time they don't need them, especially if they carry their own purses or reusable shopping bags.

I call BS

its not a tax on working people

Especially when you can go to stores and they will give you FREE reusable bags for groceries and the like..

this is already done in other countries (not just a city)

and it works very well

i work at trader joe's manhattan, and I will tell you that Europeans are the most likely group to ask me to bag in plastic, not paper. I can almost know as a German man or French woman approaches that they'll take plastic. Other people who take plastic: very old people (mired in tradition?) and people taking the train long distances who think they might be able to carry more in plastic. So yes, in part poorer people. But the European thing is a fallacy as far as my observation goes: those folks love plastic. The real heroes of the bring-your-own bag movement are the hippie moms

Ironic that Trader Joe's is owned by Germans, eh? "Gib mir mein gottverdamtes plastik, douche!"

Yes because the water hike tax, where not one council member appeared in the hearing is a tax that you CAN"T avoid and it is 14%. However a 5 cents on plastic bags is minimal and can be avoided and helps the planet. Quinn catered to all the lobbyists for the bag companies that don't want to recycle bags and to the bodega owners who don't want to collect the fees. Shame again on Quinn

Helps the planet. That's the excuse for every idea nowadays. Most people I know use those bags as trash bags. People need to dispose of trash, so they'll either just pay the 5 cents, or start buying actual trash bags.

Lobbyists for bag companies influenced Quinn? lol, you must be kidding. As for bodega owners, there are REAL costs to forcing them to become tax collectors for the government. Environmentalists are the Catholic Church of this century. God help those who dare question the doctrine preached by true believers.

Would it be so incredibly difficult to use reusable shopping bags? Or (gasp!) actually carry a couple of plastic bags with you to reuse? It's not like they take up a lot of room or weigh a lot. I always carry a few in my laptop bag.

And how much garbage do you toss in a week? Two bags? Four? I would hope an extra 20¢ per week won't break the bank.

You already CAN use your own bag or reuse the bags you are given. It's your choice. Trying to coerce people into following your agenda through more taxes is what's scary.

"Environmentalists are the Catholic Church of this century"

Talk about a nonsensical comparison. A more appropriate comparison is environmental-crisis denialists such as yourself, to the Catholic Church: heads in the sand, admonishing those who recognize the urgency of the need for change with patronizing faith based arguments, while ignoring the facts.

it obviously that you don't give shit about his planet, a 5 cent charge is minimal and CAN be avoided so it isn't a TAX or Death. But plastic bags are death to this planet. Read up on it if you don't believe it. The most ubiquitous consumer item on Earth, the lowly plastic bag is an environmental scourge like none other, sapping the life out of our oceans and thwarting our attempts to recycle it. Quinn doesn't stand up for the People. She overturn term limits with Bloomberg yet stand up against him on 5 cents that can be avoided easily. Quinn stood with the store owners and the bag companies. Again Quinn is all about GREED and Corruption.

A good decision by Speaker Quinn. A comparison to the water hike makes no sense, that's for expense reasons.

A 5 cent tax per bag and reinstating the clothing tax are simply a way to increase the already big tax burden. Don't worry, tax lovers, we're already paying more thanks to the payroll tax increase used to "save" the MTA. Tax rates will only continue to go up as the tax revenues go down because of higher unemployment. All those laid off bankers and lawyers were paying high taxes on their six figure incomes. Now those high incomes are gone, and instead of paying taxes those laid off high income workers will collect unemployment (at a paltry 400 a week) until they can eventually find a job, most likely at a much lower pay rate. Service cuts will have to follow.

New York City reportedly has to fund city worker pensions at $20,000 per year per employee, dwarfing the amount the City spends on things like parks and libraries. It's not sustainable, the system will collapse under its own weight.

Councilman Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx) said: "I personally support it [the fee] because I want to discourage the use of plastic bags.

"Consumers can avoid the fee by bringing their own bags or using paper bags. But the speaker is not a supporter. She's taking a position that is popular with many of the members."

It's a tax on working people? Rich people don't buy shit that comes in plastic bags? That's just fucking stupid. Demagoguery at it's finest.

Rich people also dont buy clothes and shoes under $110 so that to would be a tax on the working class

ok this city council has no problem with the 14% water hike yet has an issues with a 5 cents charge on Plastic bags. Quinn is garbage and should be Dump

Ok Why didn't Quinn Stand up to the Bloomberg in regards to term limits and circumventing the voters. Yet she has no problem polluting the planet with plastics bags and her foul mouth. Vote for Yetta

http://yettakurland.com/splash/index.html

Another disappointment.