The punch line that’s often used is “Do you want fries with that” – but perhaps it’ll be revised for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick as “Do you want to be drummed out of public life for that?”
As if government hasn’t already looked into every possible area where it can impose a tax, how about the good mayor’s latest idea: a tax on fast food. (No joke.)
An additional tax on fast-food may be a distasteful idea for whopper-lovers but at least one major city in the Midwest is seriously considering such a proposal.
In an effort to curb a looming $300 million budget deficit, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick last month floated what he called a “different budget than has ever been presented to our city council.”
The budget includes a proposed 2 percent tax that would be levied only on sales at fast-food restaurants, among other items that would generate additional revenue for the city.
“That means if a Happy Meal costs $2.99, the total cost will be $3.05, with the 6 cents coming to the city,” Kilpatrick said in his budget proposal. ” If you buy a medium fry for $1.05, the total cost will be $1.07. It’s a small amount for the individual customer, but it adds up to a meaningful amount to preserve essential city services.”
A spokesman for the Mayor’s office said a vote on the budget will take place before July 1, which marks the start of the city’s 2006 fiscal year. If approved by city voters and the state legislature, Detroit would become the first locale in the nation to impose a tax on fast-food.
Time magazine recently included Kilpatrick in its 2005 list of America’s worst mayors.
We wonder why…
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.