Live in Chi-town? Better buy your bottled water before midnight, or you’ll be paying more for it next year (h/t: ST reader JM):

Chicago’s impending bottled water tax has thrown the city into an uproar. A group of politicians, including Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., staged their own version of the Boston Tea Party, by pouring bottled water into the Chicago River. The Illinois Retail Merchants Association, the Illinois Food Retailers Association, and other groups are threatening to challenge the law in Cook County Circuit Court after it goes into effect in the New Year. Retailers on the city’s borders are stocking up on water in expectation of higher sales.

The law is a pet project of Alderman George Cardenas. It’s intended to raise revenue (about $10.5 million annually, by city estimates), to discourage the use of environmentally harmful plastic bottles, and also to address Cardenas’s ridiculous obsession.

The Alderman blames the city water and sewer department’s $40 million budget shortfall on bottled water consumption, an allegation that — pardon the pun — doesn’t hold water.

The 2007 water rates for Chicago and its suburbs is $1.33 per 1,000 gallons consumed; sewer rates are calculated at 83 percent of the water bill, or $1.10 per 1,000 gallons consumed. Chicago consumers would need to consume an additional 16 billion gallons of tap water a year to make up the budget shortfall — enough to fill almost 25,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

As for the revenue estimates, they are also likely all wet. While politicians recognize that raising the cost of bottled water will discourage people from buying it, they anticipate a continuous, if not expanding, revenue base from bottled water sales in future years.

Thanks to existing loopholes, the bottled water tax won’t collect a fraction of the money that the city expects. Under the new law, Chicagoans would be charged 5 cents per bottle of still water, but nothing for carbonated or fortified water, which are considered soft drinks and thus not direct competitors of Lake Michigan’s finest.

The state of Illinois’ Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act states that “’soft drinks’ means any complete, finished, ready-to-use, non-alcoholic drink, whether carbonated or not, including but not limited to soda water, cola, fruit juice, vegetable juice, carbonated water, and all other preparations commonly known as soft drinks of whatever kind or description that are contained in any closed or sealed bottle, can, carton, or container, regardless of size.”

Coffee, tea, still water, infant formula, milk or milk products and drinks containing 50 percent or more natural fruit or vegetable juice are exceptions. (Isn’t this beginning to sound like something out of Dr. Strangelove?)

CBS 2 Chicago reports that a lawsuit is underway:

But several organizations are out to invalidate the new tax, which was approved in November as part of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s $275 million city budget.

The Illinois Beverage Association is among the groups that plans to file a lawsuit to invalidate the tax. The organization argues that the tax will “disproportionately hurt low- and fixed-income families, who spend a greater percentage of their income on food and drinks. This includes senior citizens.”

The group said it plans to file the lawsuit in early January, along with several other trade groups.

Tim Bramlet of the Beverage Association said the plan for the lawsuit comes after a failed attempt to argue against the tax before the City Council.

“We had tried to argue with the City Council during the debate of the issue that the whole idea of the tax was misguided, and we suggested there were some legal ground that the tax went through, so we’re prepared to file through on behalf of Chicago consumers and retailers, and see if we can’t get it struck down.”

[…]

Ald. George Cardenas (12th) first proposed the bottled water tax in August. He said the decline in water usage had contributed to a nearly $40 million shortfall in the city’s water and sewer funds.

Cardenas also said in August that a bottled water tax would help the environment by dissuading people from buying the plastic bottles that end up in landfills.

Ah, ya gotta love the “it’ll help others” excuse city “leaders” always given when it comes time to dream up ways to collect more money from the people.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SuperHill! In response to Barack Obama’s jab at her time as First Lady being nothing more than a “glorified tea party,” here’s what she had to say (h/t: ST reader NC Cop):

On Saturday night in Dubuque she pounced, arguing she risked her life on White House missions in the 1990s, including a hair-raising flight into Bosnia that ended in a “corkscrew” landing and a sprint off the tarmac to dodge snipers.

“I don’t remember anyone offering me tea,” she quipped.

The dictum around the Oval Office in the ’90s, she added, was: “If a place was too dangerous, too poor or too small, send the first lady.”

It turns out that Clinton wasn’t quite flying solo into harm’s way that day.

She was, in fact, leading a goodwill entourage that included baggy-pants funnyman Sinbad, singer Sheryl Crow and Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, then 15, according to an account of the March 1995 trip in her autobiography “Living History.”

As the plane approached the runway, the pilot ordered the Clintons into the armored front of the plane, Clinton writes.

What’s not clear is whether Sinbad or Crow were invited to the cockpit or had to brave it out in the unprotected rear.

She wants us to pull out of Iraq, regardless of the very real possibility that genocide would follow, yet she’s fearless when going on “goodwill missions” to small countries.

Sounds brave and strong to me.

Dean Barnett wonders:

1) Does it jeopardize Bill Clinton’s legacy that he so cavalierly put his beloved bride in harm’s way?

2) What does it say about Hillary that, by her own (admittedly fanciful) telling, she knowingly put her daughter in harm’s way, taking a special Mom-and-daughter (and Sinbad) trip to a place that was “too dangerous?”

3) Can America forgive Hillary for jeopardizing the life of national treasure Sheryl Crow?

Here’s a 4th question: Did Ms. Crow suggest they use only one square of toilet paper per bathroom visit on that harrowing plane ride? Enquiring minds wanna know!

Been a super-busy day, thankfully it’s almost over. The whole week promises to be just like today, as I will continue to have to catch up from being off all last week, so please bear with me. Wanted to get this thread started so everyone can get in their New Years greetings and wishes. I’ll check back in later tonight with my own If you’re going to be out and about celebrating tonight, please be careful and drive safe!

Update 10:40 pm: I’m so tired, I’m not sure if I’ll make it til midnight. But one place where they partied after midnight into 2008 was in Baghdad, where this year they - and we - have seen more progress there since the fall of Baghdad, thanks in large part to General Petraeus, who should have been Time’s Man of the Year (sidenote: at least one publication saw fit to bestow him with the honor - h/t: ST reader GWR). It’s encouraging, and provides hope to everyone who believed from the start that overthrowing Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do. If things continue on this track, eventually GWB’s goal of a stable and secure Iraq, which would be a beacon of hope in the Middle East, will be realized, and slowly but surely, our brave men and women, who - along with their families - have sacrificed so much during this war, can finally start coming home.

We still have a long road ahead of us there, though, and trouble’s been brewing in Afghanistan for some time, so for now, the optimism many of us hold is of the cautious variety. Here’s praying that 2008 brings more good news out of Iraq, and that things turn around in Afghanistan, and that we get a president who knows how to continue to lead the fight against Islamofascism around the world. The year numbers might be changing, but the war on terror rages on.

Photo courtesy of Andy Clark and Reuters. Actual caption follows:

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) addresses supporters in the Denison, Iowa Fire Station December 27, 2007

My caption:

Hillary Clinton’s two personalities surface while she addresses supporters in Iowa. No word on which personality is which.

Your turn!

Haven’t started one of these in a while, and wanted to go ahead and post it because tomorrow morning is going to be crazy for me as I’ll be returning to the 8-5 after being off all week. In fact, my blogging tomorrow will likely be in the evening, as I plan on staying in for New Year’s eve.

It’s the last game of the season for the struggling Cats, who have suffered from a number of injuries this year, with the biggest one of them all being QB Jake Delhomme’s season-ending elbow injury he suffered against the Falcons back in week three.

For the Panthers, who stand at 6-9, this game is meaningless. At this point, they are just playing for pride against a division rival. Tampa Bay has already clinched the NFC South, and their starters will only see limited time today as Coach Jon “Chucky” Gruden is resting them up for the playoffs.

Game time is 1pm ET and it will be broadcast on Fox.

The more noteworthy story is yesterday’s announced retirement of 44 year-old Panthers QB Vinny Testaverde. Today’s game will be the last of his 21 year history with the NFL. Interestingly enough, Tampa Bay was the first NFL team Testaverde played for. I’m sure I’m not the only Panthers fan wishing him well today.

Rumors are also circulating that the Panthers head coach John Fox is leaving the Panthers to coach the UCLA Bruins. That rumor is untrue, as it was announced yesterday the job was going to Baltimore offensive coordinator Rick Neuheisel. In spite of the Panthers’ dismal past couple of years, owner Jerry Richardson reportedly still has confidence in John Fox and has said he’d like him to return to the Panthers next season.

Stay tuned …

Update: The Panthers played a pretty solid game today, much of it against some of TB’s second stringers, and win 31-23. Vinny took the symbolic last snap to finish out his NFL career.

The Goracle may have just missed out on being named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, but some of his fellow Tennesseans gave him the ‘honor’ of voting him as Tennessean of the Year:

Al Gore, seated on the side porch of his Nashville home, couldn’t be challenged on this one.

This year, the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, focusing on his efforts to educate people about global warming, won an Oscar. His television network, Current TV, picked up an Emmy.

He and an international panel of scientists shared the Nobel Peace Prize for alerting the world to the dangers posed by pollution-driven climate change.

And, one of his daughters got married.

An “interesting” year, for sure, for a man who, now 59, has served as a congressman, U.S. senator and vice president and won the popular vote in the 2000 presidential race — but not the job.

Gore, who has been named 2007 Tennessean of the Year by readers and The Tennessean’s editorial board, said he was honored and touched.

Considering the state of Tennessee didn’t vote for their hometown boy over the eeevil W back in 2000, this win is purely symbolic and likely rather hollow for The Goracle, and little more.

In other “… of the year” nonsense, The Dallas Morning News editorial board has named the illegal immigrant as their 2007 “Texan of the Year.” Noel Sheppard delivers the appropriate verbal smackdown here.

… and the far left, predictably, are losing it. Publius Pundit has the details on the official NYT announcement of the Weekly Standard editor’s hiring, as well as links to the foaming at the mouth frenzy on display this weekend by The Usual Suspects, who are wondering if the NYT will “balance” Kristol with another liberal columnist.

Yeah, because we all know that the NYT columnist page is tilted far too much to the conservative side. Of course to the left, just one right-leaning writer out of seven or eight means a page must be “out of balance” - to the right (case in point).

The NYT editorial page editor, Andy Rosenthal, played the far left’s “fears” like a fiddle in his defense of the NYT’s decision:

Rosenthal told Politico shortly after the official announcement Saturday that he fails to understand “this weird fear of opposing views.”

“The idea that The New York Times is giving voice to a guy who is a serious, respected conservative intellectual — and somehow that’s a bad thing,” Rosenthal added. “How intolerant is that?”

Gosh, he’s just now figuring out the left’s touting the virtue of their “tolerance” is all a big farce?

Captain Ed quips:

I have to admit that I find the controversy refreshing. It’s good to see the progressives admit that a half of Bill Kristol outweighs the five liberal commentators at the Gray Lady. It also shows, as Rosenthal notes, the rhetorical intolerance that many progressives display on a fairly regular basis. When they cancel subscriptions to the one national newspaper most amenable to their politics simply because it allows one competing opinion to appear, that says something about their insecurity.

Yep. However, what with all the little “threats” to cancel subscriptions coming from the leftosphere, and knowing how desperate the NYT is to keep and increase their readership, I’m taking bets on how long it takes for them to decide it’s in the “best interests” of their readership to “offset” Kristol by adding yet another lefty columnist to their stable.

Cross-posted at Right Wing News, where I am helping guestblog for John Hawkins on Sundays.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer blog reports today that a few Dennis Kucinich supporters are outraged about a new ad Pizza Hut is running, which features all the presidential candidates, including Rep. Kucinich:

“Are people seeing lower prices now?” the announcer in the ad asks before cutting to a debate segment where Kucinich says: “More people in this country have seen UFOs.”

When the vegan congressman disappears from the screen, his image is replaced by meat-covered pizzas.

Operators of several websites that admire the Cleveland congressmen are urging readers to complain to Pizza Hut. They’re not mad about Kucinich being linked to pepperoni despite his meat aversion, or being linked to chain pizza despite his anti-corporate rhetoric. It’s the UFO reference that’s given them indigestion.

“I am going to encourage all Kucinich supporters to boycott your restaurant until you change your “debate” advertising,” wrote the operator of a website called Dandelionsalad. “That was a low blow to a viable, electable presidential candidate. Consider the word OUT! I also think Pizza Hut should publicly apologize to the Congressman!”

The “outrage” is ridiculous, something I think you’ll agree with once you view the ad:

The ad isn’t in any way disparaging of Kucinich as it uses his own words about UFOs. If his supporters are upset about the fact that Pizza Hut used a direct quote from Kucinich about extra terrestrial activity, they ought to direct their ire to the man who made the comments in the first place.

I’m with McQ, who wonders if faux outrage has crippled our ability to laugh at ourselves. Not only that, but this is Dennis Kucinich we’re talking about here, whose entire candidacy is pretty much a joke.

Me? I’ve always wondered if Kucinich and Mr. Spock were separated at birth:

What do you think?

Consider this an open thread for tonight’s big Patriots/Giants game. Game time is 8:15. For all of us who aren’t privileged enough to have the NFL Network channel, it will be simulcast on NBC and CBS.

Predictions, anyone?

For the ladies who read this blog who couldn’t care less about football, here’s something to get your motor runnin’ in case your guy will be glued to the tube this evening. The gent below is QB for the 16-0 Patriots (he wears the number 12).

Here’s another, posted back during last season’s playoffs.

Rather makes the game worth watching, eh?

Related: On a somewhat more serious note, my friend Patrick O’Hannigan, a thoughtful writer, has a piece up about the spirit of competition in sports.

Halftime Update: The Giants have put up a very impressive first half showing, and scored a touchdown with seconds left in the first half to go into the locker room up 21-16 over the Pats.

Final Update: The Giants played their hearts out, but in the end it wasn’t enough as Brady and the Pats win 38-35.