The price of pee

You may have heard about the $5 million the city of Seattle spent for five high-tech self-cleaning toilets four years ago. The johns were set up downtown with tourists and homeless people in mind (though the homeless would surely have voted to spend that 5 mil on shelter rather than potties).

When the toilets were finally deemed a bust, Seattle authorities decided to throw in the plunger and sell them on eBay. If they thought they would recoup their expenses they were sorely mistaken. The 5 vessels brought just $12,549 combined at auction.

The lingering question is why officials ever thought $5 million was a bargain, despite the self-cleaning option on the stand-alone toilets. Haven't they ever heard of Home Depot?