Once and for all: Are plastic bags really worse than paper?

I know that the most environmental thing is always to bring reusable bags to the store and I do that as often as I can. However sometimes...But when I am going to get the store's bags I really want plastic. I can use those in all our trash cans in the house as well as for diaper disposal on the go. But with the recent plastic bag bans around here, I'm actually hitting a shortage sometimes. My Mom had to import some for me from where she lives. We reuse the paper bags too for collecting newspaper recycling, but I definitely notice that those have started piling up a little, whereas we always had a way to reuse the plastic bags quickly and again and again. Sometimes it was to pack shoes in for trips, sometimes it was to carry sippy cups around to make sure they don't spill in my backpack. And once they were at the end of their useful life they became garbage/diaper bags.

That rant is courtesy of this article I just ran across on the New York Times website that has info debunking the whole "paper bags are better for the environment" argument (you have to scroll down a little to find it). Found it interesting because I'd heard the argument just not seen the data. Though again I will reiterate, reusable bags, always better...