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394 Comments
- TJ11240, on 01/31/2008, -9/+422Why should anyone be FORCED to pay for such a service? And what kind of message are we sending when we require people to be wasteful and punish those who are not?
- AriaStar, on 01/31/2008, -4/+277My mom produces about small plastic grocery store bags' worth of garbage a week and lives in an apartment. When she had a house, in the year after my dad died she couldn't afford the $82 per month for weekly garbage service, and we saw no need, since she didn't even fill a small garbage can a month (and the city collection company gives out only the giant cans). I just took her small bags to my place and threw them away. It blows my mind that it could even be possible, anywhere, that she, or this man, or anyone, could be forced to pay for a service that either is not needed or is needed less frequently. This man's waste is "next to nothing," so why do they not allow for monthly, or bi-monthly? As long as waste isn't piling up anywhere in an unsanitary manner or being throw, without consent, into neighbors' cans, it's nothing but an attempt at stealing money. If I force you to give me $5 to wash your car and it didn't need it, but I made you pay anyway, I stole it. Just like they're doing.
- inactive, on 01/31/2008, -10/+256The government used to exist to serve the tax-paying citizens. Now, citizens exist to serve the government.
But, according to most people, who cares as long as the Super Bowl or Oprah comes on television? - nepawoods, on 01/31/2008, -22/+115"Why should anyone be FORCED to pay for such a service?"
Of course, this is no different than taxation, where your taxes provide all sorts of services regardless of whether you'll use them. - positron, on 01/31/2008, -28/+121Welcome to government: socializing market services and forcing participation at gunpoint.
- titansix, on 01/31/2008, -0/+85We're so wrapped up laws and "codes", that throwing a lawsuit at someone is a lot easier than figuring out how to pull our heads out of our asses.
- inactive, on 01/31/2008, -0/+75In my town you have to pay for trash pick-up if you want it or not. And if you don't pay for it they put a lien on your home and charge you an extra $30.00 a month to maintain the lien. And yes, our trash company is mob-operated.
- Rapter09, on 01/31/2008, -6/+71He's suspected for burning his trash, that's probably why the City is a little suspicious of him.
- inactive, on 01/31/2008, -11/+69Keep that train of thought going until you come to a great realization: you're a libertarian.
- Herv3, on 01/31/2008, -13/+63Same thing.
- AriaStar, on 01/31/2008, -2/+44Encouraging waste means encouraging spending. And every time money changes hands, a little is skimmed off the top for the government.
- a6n28f, on 01/31/2008, -1/+39That's great, but the fact remains that it is not a tax. It is payment for a service. Perhaps his municipality should look into a sanitation tax, but until they do the guy is right.
- socalrob, on 01/31/2008, -3/+40It seems like some of the facts are missing from this story. The man has an accusation out against him that he is burning his trash. If he is doing this and the city/county/state has a law against it, then I can see them going after him.
My city changed their ways about 3 years ago. They have large trash bins, given us also recycling bins that are almost as large as the trash ones, along with yard waste bins that are as large as the recycle bins. We have changed our ways also to fill up the recycle bin every week, but the trash bin takes 2 weeks on average to fill up. So we still use it for 3 people. I don't see how this man has absolutely no trash. We have trash because some recycleable containers are too dirty to be recylcled (IE: food waste). - edstate, on 01/31/2008, -5/+40Well, prove it and fine him, or move on.
- RedStateRetard, on 01/31/2008, -2/+37Don't mess with the garbage people.
I'm paraphrasing Rodney Dangerfield from Back to School.
"You apparently don't know who controls the garbage business, and trust me, it's not the Girl Scouts." - kanabiis, on 01/31/2008, -0/+31The article mentions that he has had the fire department called 5 times for burning things, all 5 times turns out he was burning firewood. It sounds like both the neighbors and city have been trying to catch him in the wrong and so far have failed.
It's not difficult for a single man to limit his waste output to almost nothing. By making the right choices when purchasing goods and food packaged in recyclable containers and limiting food waste, as well as adjusting to the lifestyle changes it would require to decide to not purchase luxury items packaged in non-recyclable packaging.
In just glancing at the items in my garbage can, most of them I can ID as being recyclable or compostable, infact as I think about it, most of my waste fits those categories. I'm sure the same can be said about most people. This is not a matter of possibility, it's quite possible, its matter of willpower. - cmoreland, on 01/31/2008, -1/+30"just burning wood" my ass. Hell I even toss some old bank statements in the hearth every now and then.
Still, not surprised at this, utility companies are used to squeezing any coin out of citizens as they can, not 'getting' the shaft.
+1 for old man
/stay off his lawn - lordmetroid, on 01/31/2008, -2/+31MONOPOLY! It is great...
I would love for an obligatory purchase of my service or else be thrown in jail. Really good for business! - ubuntu710, on 01/31/2008, -2/+30this is ***** ridiculous we should dump all our trash on the city's townhall in protest.
- inactive, on 01/31/2008, -3/+30My dog sometimes eats plastic.
- Beson669, on 01/31/2008, -9/+30If for some reason this man lost the lawsuit and was forced to resume his trash pickup, I would suggest he continue disposing of his trash in the same manner but for one month or so fill his trashcan up with as many big black rubber dildos as he can fit and coat the top with some thick lotion. At the bottom of the trashcan he can always leave some snappy note pertaining to said dildos like "Get *****" or "feel free to use these on the rest of your customers"
- GreenGrassyNoel, on 01/31/2008, -3/+23Regardless, the city should be suing him for burning trash instead of not producing any.
- a6n28f, on 01/31/2008, -0/+20He's right in the sense that the annual interest on the national debt has been greater than the annual sum of all federal personal income taxes since sometime in the 80s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_debt
In that sense, we get nothing for our taxes, which are only used to perpetuate a senseless banking system that doesn't benefit the people, only its private ownership. - tsaylor, on 01/31/2008, -2/+22"should be" and "is" have nothing to do with each other when it comes to the government.
- wicketr, on 01/31/2008, -8/+28Which makes me wonder why any logical person would vote for a Democrat or Republican. If you stand for something, stand for it! I hate that so many have bailed on Ron Paul just because they think he is going to lose.
- TheTaoOfBill, on 01/31/2008, -2/+21Okay...right...Anarchy would be worse. Not sure where that came from but okay.
I think the argument is that free market privatized services are better than socialized services.
What if you have a job that requires you to make regular trips to the dump. What if you live a mile away from the dump? Why shouldn't you be able to dispose of your own garbage?
Or what if another guy offers to take your garbage to the dump for a cheaper price? Why not go with him instead?
I actually like the local government service and have no problem with it but people should have the option to opt out of the service if they don't need it and they should get a tax break because of it. - kaelyiesta, on 01/31/2008, -3/+22Guilty until proven innocent, I love it!
/s - jeffiek, on 01/31/2008, -5/+23"Because some people..."
It's always some people, some unnamed people, somewhere. Never can find them, they're just out there, somewhere. Waiting, lurking, somewhere in the shadows.
And here I thought the tin-foil hat crowd was paranoid. - norman619, on 01/31/2008, -12/+29No he just likes to think logically.
- kaelyiesta, on 01/31/2008, -0/+17"a city ordinance" insists he use the service. I think we can all agree that government and industry likes to collude and help each other out at the expense of we the people. It doesn't matter who issues the lawsuit, government is the one with the guns backing up this robbery.
http://www.examiner.com/a-1187195%7ECity_sues_man_ ... - norman619, on 01/31/2008, -1/+17Yes becasue THAT will show them!!!
- KaJuN4, on 01/31/2008, -0/+16Don't you just love codes and ordinances? They're great tools for when cities want to do something without the consent of their citizens. Where I live there's a heated battle going on over a proposed housing development. First it went on the ballot to see if we wanted it. We voted it down. But the city and the construction company weren't going to let that stop them so they reclassified the action to something that didn't need voter approval. A lot of people complained and it was put back on the ballot and voted down again.
- Bishop256, on 01/31/2008, -6/+21right because none of our taxes go to ANYTHING other than the debt. We dont send any money to the war in Iraq or schools or anything else. Who knows how we got that debt /sarcasm
- therealkdog, on 01/31/2008, -1/+16So the city made a deal with the trashman, then the city can pay the trash man.
- tsaylor, on 01/31/2008, -2/+17Plastic is recyclable.
- catdogpigduck, on 01/31/2008, -0/+15Taxpayer money at work, extorting more money from taxpayers.
- inactive, on 01/31/2008, -0/+15You pay for it in your taxes.
- cryptoki, on 02/01/2008, -2/+16in seattle you can go to city dump sites and pay 5 ro 10 bucks twice a month.. which is actually cheaper. that is.. if you have a garage to store it in, and keep you junk well sealed in hefty bags.
Heck, neighbors could pool their resources together. a trash, block party twice a month., I bet the city would be upset. if the dollar gets any weaker... watch it happen. - inactive, on 01/31/2008, -2/+16I like how my city does it. Even though it is bad for renters who would otherwise get it for free. We have special city garbage bags that must be used. If you leave garbage out in any other bags, you can get fined. The bags can be purchased at any supermarket, as well as many drug stores like CVS, Walgreens, etc. I think you can also get them from the city directly. The large ones (that woul fit inside a standard large plastic garbage bin) at $6 or so for 5. And medium size ones are $4 for 5. They would fit in a standard kitchen garbage can. They used to have small ones too. Maybe still do, but they are only available through the city and I don't know how much tye are.
A single person living alone can easily get by with 2 medium a week, so $8 a month. If you produce more waste, then you spend more. If you use less, then you spend less. It was a pain in the ass when they started it about 15 years ago, but once people got used to it, it is fine. - InetRoadkill, on 01/31/2008, -0/+14This has been to court at least once before that I know of and the city lost. I believe the case was in southern california about 10 years ago.
- bobartig, on 01/31/2008, -0/+13The city of Portland, ME, has a program like this, but instead of purchasing stickers, you purchase the garbage bags. The Waste Pickup people will only take official blue "City of Portland" trash bags, so its a natural pay-by-utilization method.
It would be perfect for this fellow. A 10-pack of official bags would last him several years, and he would get his savings that way. - glasnostic, on 01/31/2008, -0/+13pretty easy to beat the lawsuit. as long as he does not do business with some other trash collector then he is not in violation of the rules.
- cmoreland, on 01/31/2008, -0/+13I've always heard this (mob-operated) even in my town...I wonder if it has any truth anymore.
- rnwen2750, on 01/31/2008, -2/+15Many cities and counties have burn laws because the average person is not responsible enough to properly burn trash. Also, most people are startlingly ignorant when it comes to knowing what can be burned and what is toxic when burned.
- BingoPower, on 01/31/2008, -1/+14In Detroit, they charge by the body.
- Nougat, on 01/31/2008, -3/+15The real problem is the ordinance, requiring people to contract with the waste hauler. Which means that most people (well, all, except this guy) will pay for it, and since they have to pay for it, there's no incentive for homeowners to reduce their waste. In fact, there's a disincentive to reduce waste, since it's more effort to reduce waste than to just throw things away. Give people the option of making that effort *or* paying a higher waste removal bill, and people just might make the effort.
Note that I am not saying that because one generates no waste that they should pay nothing for waste management. Part of that is a public service that keeps neighborhoods clean and free from disease. If you never send anything down the toilet or drain, you're still enjoying a lack of sewage floating in the street, for example. - ewbragg, on 01/31/2008, -1/+13Some lawyer needs to sue the city on behalf of the earth.
- haasim, on 01/31/2008, -1/+13For a minute I thought I was reading something from a satirical newspaper, like The Onion.
I had to spend a few minutes on the site to realize it was legit. - oldhick, on 01/31/2008, -0/+11The weak dollar really doesn't impact transactions with services in the US. The weak dollar affects the purchase of goods overseas or vice-versa, its actually good for the companies in America that still export. But, bottom line, the weak dollar won't impact your trash service.
- fyngyrz, on 01/31/2008, -3/+14Wait till someone presents you with a huge bill for cancer surgery, radiation, chemo, etc. Like the one I just paid. No insurance. Not insurable. As a couple, we're two diabetics and one cancer survivor. It was most of our life savings, and it's gone now. Courtesy of the current insurance / medical system. Of course, it could have been more -- but we opted to stop when we ran out of money. If there is a recurrence (which there probably will be), we can't afford anything. So we'll declare medical bankruptcy. We'll lose our possessions. Perhaps our home. And of course, that leaves out anything *else* happening.
The present system isn't adequate to ensure that people get the healthcare they need. That's quite different from trash pickup, where it is adequate. Which is why the healthcare system needs reform. So let's keep the hysteria down to a dull roar. -
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