Life is going down the toilet (Potty Talk, Part 1)

It is my understanding that we have the environmentalists to thank for the plague of water-saving toilets that have been foisted upon us by law.
If it isn't the fault of the environmentalists, then this blog is directed at whoever IS to blame, and I suspect you know who you are. You're lucky I do not.
I just spent the last hour or so going in to apply the plumber's helper- better known as a plunger- to my POS toilet every few minutes, after the "water" drained enough to try flushing it again. This was the worst clog we've experienced yet; I am going to have to buy another plunger- I got a blister on my palm trying to use the POS one I have now, which was probably made in China.
One of things that ticked me off and totally grossed me out as I dealt with the clog was that, due to the shape of the bowl and the lousiness of the plunger, "water" splashed out numerous times, despite my best efforts to prevent it. But that's nothing new: one of the special features of these toilets is apparently a built-in stealth bidet. Too bad it uses water from the bowl. So the seat has to be wiped frequently; save water, kill more trees.
But the worst thing about them is the stupidity of forcing us to use them when they really don't save water at all. How can they possibly do that when they require at least 2 flushes to get rid of a normal-sized bowel movement? Plus they are so inefficient at flushing that they require cleaning far more frequently, so there goes more water. Not to mention, where I live, we don't usually need to conserve water. In fact, quite a few folks around here are probably wishing they could get rid of some, right about now. (Flooding is common here in the spring.)
If only I had known, when we replaced the original toilet, that there are far worse things than hard water stains.