You're not using enough. For explanation, we turn to Chicago, where there's a desire to tax bottled water. Watch for the reasoning:

Cooling off with bottled water could soon cost you more within the Chicago city limits if one alderman has his way.

As CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports, Ald. George Cardenas (12th) wants to slap a tax of up to 25 cents on the cost of every bottle to help close a $217 million budget gap.

"People enjoy jogging or driving with a bottle of water. There's a cost associated with this behavior. You have to pay for it," said Cardenas, one of Mayor Richard M. Daley's staunchest City Council supporters.

Cardenas noted that there's a nearly $40 million shortfall in the city's water and sewer funds, in part because of a decline in water usage.

"How is this possible when we have a water system that's won honors? It's because bottled water has become a $15 billion industry that's growing at a rate of 20 to 30 percent a year," he said.

As Phil Miller points out, bottled water is a convenience, which the City of Chicago thinks you should pay them for. If you drive less, or drive a hybrid, you will use less gas and revenues for roads and bridges will get down. People enjoy biking, there's a cost associated with this behavior, someone has to pay for it. (An excise tax on bicycle tires seems surely in the offing.)

For some, the only time to raise taxes is always.

Labels: Minnesota, taxes