I live in Omaha.  The mayor was on the city council when it approved a bunch of other projects in the city that it didn't have the money to pay for.  He was also there when the city council approved contract with the Fire/Police Unions that allowed for early retirement and pay spiking. He voted for all of them.  The bill has now come due for all of his pet projects.

Rather than cut the budget, he gave raises to his staff when he entered office and entered the city into a $500 month lease for his personal "work" vehicle.  He has passed a 2.5% entertainment tax, a $50 wheel tax on nonresidents that work in the city to repair residential streets (not the main thoroughfares), and survived a recall effort by paying the homeless in the city to "work for his campaign". (Ironically they bussed these guys to the poling places to go vote after their "training".)  He is as crooked as they come and he is driving business and people out of the city and into the suburban towns surrounding the city.(Look at the latest census.) 

The city knew this was coming for years. They decided to not make any long term plans to help business cover the cost of this federally mandated project.  The costs are now being passed on to the residents and local business, hence anyone that can afford to leave city limits are fleeing like rats off a sinking ship.  His tax revenues are dropping due to the migration out of the city, and he is desperate to find a way to get the city budget balanced with out having to cut "services" to his voting base. 

Trust me, he is no great thinker.  He is an incompetent fool desperate to cover his behind.

I live in Omaha as well and this mayor is out of his mind. He is tax happy. As previously stated by reformed, he survived the recall most likely due to paying his buddies to go out and vote for him, or using scare tactics. He has done nothing but put this city in the hole financially. We weren't the greatest to begin with, but he has done nothing to help it. His main priority is his unions and his over paid staff. I live in an apartment just on the edge of town, unfortunately annexed by Omaha a couple of years ago. I now plan to move because of all these taxes. His tax on a tax with the 2.5% addition to our restaurant taxes, our escalating wheel taxes, his pushing for commuter tax, now this crazy idea for toilet paper tax?!? He has finally lost it. For anyone curious enough, please google him and listen to the man speak. He truly sounds like he just escaped a senior living center. How the citizens of this city elected him and then saved him from a recall is beyond me. I can proudly complain as I did my part to push him out and I voted for the other guy. 

So this is literally taxing the crap out of you

The guy is a democrat. What do you expect? They are all tax happy idiots that spend, spend, spend. I for one was not complementing him or calling him a great thinker. I am however tired of Washington DC putting their nose in local issues beyond their constitutional powers and leaving cities and states to pick up the tab. In that case, forcing the Federal government to either create a tax to pay for it or revoke the new requirements. If they were forced to do that, then at least voters around the country would know where to place blame for this particular situation. Now the Omaha mayor may have done a hundred other things wrong but this is one area where the issue should be with the Federal government sticking their heads into local issues. It is a lot like the health care law too. One reason why it looks like it might not add to the Federal debt is because it pushes a lot of new cost down to the states. If the Federal government paid for everything it was requiring in the health care law, it would add a ton to the national debt. Now it is MAYBE national debt neutral but states are going to get nailed and have to raise taxes to pay for it. Unfortunately many Americans are too stupid to understand that. The Federal government should not be allowed to mandate state spending.

If the goverenment wants to tax the toilet paper ... maybe we should pay, wipe and send the results to them .... just so they know what we think of the tax.

We already pay sales tax on toilet paper, tax on the gasoline or transportation required to get us to the store, and tax on our sewer bills.  It seems as if it's becoming very expensive to go to the bathroom.  What tax is next?  Should we start taxing the tax rate? 

What is next, the air we breathe ?????????????

Sounds great, EXCEPT such a tax never winds up specific for the intended project;

 the money goes into the general fund, and spent on other projects.

The state lottery intended for education is the perfect example.

LOL the Aussies have been paying it for a long time ! Not to mention higher gas prices for ever too. They think of us as wasters lol they even strighten old nails due to the cost of new and were crying ? Our own fault though we put the goats in charge of us ? So they eat us of of house and home for themselves.

I think I just Shat myself !