This the list of events so far. Three weeks ago, my wife flushed the toilet and the water came through the ceiling in the basement. I think that there is a blockage and rent a hand turn snake to snake the drain. After an afternoon filled with removing and replaceing a toilet and getting the snake stuck, it seemed to be working. One week later it happens again. This time we call a professional (way overpriced) that came in and power snaked the line all the way out to the street. I know that the problem is somewhere in the house because we have a sink in our basement that runs fine. After the power snake we discover that the flange is broken and that is why it goes to the basement. I went out and bought a new flange with the rubber gasket and installed that, and the toilet worked for a week. As of last night the toilet would not go down, even with a plunger. It is the same problem only I now have a good seal from toilet to pipe. This morning it flushed fine. I am not sure what the hell is going on here. When it was plugged last night I ran the water in the sink (it's line dumps into the sewer line just after the toilet) and air was bubbling up out of the toilet. I'm wondering if this is a venting problem. I hope that you might have some sort of a solution for me. I'm ready to rip it all out and put in PVC.
Thanks for any info, Scott.

You have the right idea,exceptit's not a vent problem. Rule of thumb will tell you that, "bubbles" indicate a clog downstream of the toilet while a "gurgle" indicates a blocked vent. You are correct to assume the problem's in the toilet branch and not from the house to the city sewer. If you don't wish to pull the toilet and snake from there you can snake from the sinks roof vent. Put out enough cable to reachthe base and 20 feet more to be surer. Good luck, Tom