There’s a good reason why you don’t elect certain people to office. The Sioux Falls Man Bun tax.

Pat Powers

Sometimes there are those things you have record with a screen shot, in case that person ever runs for office again. Last night’s tax proposal of unsuccessful Sioux Falls Mayoral/City Council candidate Nick “Man Bun” Weiland was one of them:

So, Man Bun wants to see Sioux Falls impose a ten cent fee on all single use plastic, with the fee going to the retailer, and the other half going towards the environment? As in, “he wants to tax retailers with half of the tax going to the same retailers?”

For most businesspeople, they really aren’t interested in a new government program to tax themselves so they can pay themselves half of the proceeds of the tax.

I can’t imagine he spoke with his mom/employer about whether Parker Bistro, his family’s restaurant, wants to be account for and be taxed ten cents for every straw, takeout box, and plastic bag in the restaurant by the city of Sioux Falls, so they can get a nickel back.

(Do we call this Weiland’s ‘nickleback’ proposal?) Moving on.

11 thoughts on “There’s a good reason why you don’t elect certain people to office. The Sioux Falls Man Bun tax.”

    1. John Wayne was an avowed racist and white supremacist.

      But thanks for being open about who your role models are.

  4. Certain folks’ obsession with plastic utensils is myopic. If customers eschew plastic, they’ll use metal. That means running dishwashers more often. Restaurants w/o metal utensils will need to buy em. Over time, it entails more bauxite/ ore mining, smelting, etc. Given these offsets, the environmental savings are minimal.

    American + Canadian plastic utensils –> NOT a significant global pollution driver. It’s the equivalent of fixing a leaky faucet during a flood. Utensils represent a minuscule fraction of the environmental problem. But whatever. Let’s ignore the 800-pound gorilla and focus on the 2-ounce mouse. Every little bit helps.

    US businesses and consumers will fight for plastic utensils in court and in the legislatures. It’ll be a slow, aggravating, expensive campaign: one with significant opportunity costs. We lack the manpower & money to address each problem simultaneously. To fight this fight, we’ll forego other, important battles.

    And let’s assume we succeed. We eliminate disposable utensils, straws, & chop sticks. It’s inconvenient, but Americans can live without ‘em. Huzzah. We’ve helped the environment… a smidgen. Because even if Western Europe, the US, Canada, & Australia act in concert to ban these popular products, we’ll reduce global pollution by maybe 1% over a decade. Pretty weak soup. So why do people care? Because focusing on plastic utensils allows the Whole Foods set to relish its virtuous superiority over the horrible, dirty working families who dine at KFC, Panda Express, and (perish the thought!) Chick-Fil-A.

    Still, I’m glad folks cherish the ecosphere. Mother Earth needs help. Efforts are underway to clean the world’s four most polluted rivers: the Ganges, Yellow, Doce, and Citarum. Noxious filth entering the Global Ocean from these 4 sources exceeds the plastic fork problem by several orders. Meanwhile, China burns nearly 4 BILLION tons of coal per year, and the Amazon is literally on fire. Hazmat crews have only begun to address a Russian nuclear accident that killed dozens after what Putin called a “brief release of radiation” into the atmosphere. Helicopters, soil excavators, & hazmat crews are working 24/7 at the Nenoska site, where apex radiation levels registered 2000% above normal. BTW, the Nenoska explosion was Russia’s second in three days. A mysterious blast near Achinsk forced thousands to evacuate, and the Siberian permafrost is melting. But I digress. Enjoy the weekend…without sporks!

    1. Just saw on One America News that some world environmental group released a study showing China to be responsible for 75% of the plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean. Is there much plastic floating in the Atlantic Ocean? If not much, maybe the report is credible.

      1. Most scientists say the Pacific contains more pollution than does the Atlantic 🤷 Probably true. Reasonable conclusion. I’d agree China is responsible for much of it. More than any other nation. The number of US Citizens living on the Pacific Coast is fewer than 50 million. Even w/ visitors & tourists, it’s not 60 million. Meanwhile, one Chinese province, Guangdong, = 115 million residents. The number of Chinese living near the Pacific dwarfs the number of Americans living near that ocean — a stat true from the dawn of civilization until 2019. And that’s just consumers. Nearly all Chinese industry is clustered on the Pacific coast, whereas less than 50% of US industry is located on the Pacific.

  6. Nick commented on a Facebook post that if Stehly doesn’t run for re-election he’s going to run against Alex Jensen. That would be hilarious.

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