Way to pay for the Navigator Kwame!

http://www.kfor.com/Global/story.asp?S=3315172

DETROIT -
The Detroit city treasury would like a bite of the profits from fast-food meals.
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is hoping people won't mind forking over a few extra cents for their Big Macs and Whoppers.

Kilpatrick is preparing to ask Detroit voters to approve a two-percent fast-food tax -- on top of the six-percent state sales tax already applied to restaurant meals.

The mayor says consumers will barely notice the slight increase at the cash register. But critics of the plan say the tax would unfairly burden the poor and hamper economic development in the city.

In my county in CA, the sales tax is 8. something percent, so I really can't feel sorry for the fast food loving citizens of Detroit.

Pricing the poor out of the fast food market can only be a step in the right direction, and I question how much urban development hinges on the success of fast food restaurants.

Agreed.

Economic development? There currently is no economic development in downtown Detroit other than a frickin' casino. What the city needs is a supermarket . . . or a movie theatre . . . or something that attracts someone in his or her mid-twenties/early thirties to live downtown instead of in the suburbs.

If anyone thinks the revenue raised by this tax will make a dent in the city's budget, they are extremely naive. It will only be used for one thing -- to perpetuate the cronyism and fraud that currently sustains city government and Kwame's crooked administration.

But, then again, no body cares because it's Detroit.

we have 15% here, so you can all stop whining!

now is this 2% increase going to be used to fund programs for healthy eating, exercise, or healthcare assistance for weight and diet related issues? or is it just a tax grab? personally if they instituted a similar program here, i wouldnt object. it would make pretty good sense in Canada where most healthcare is run by the government anyways.

I'd love to find out what they are construing as "fast food".

Why not start a city lottery? It has the same effect on the poor.

Tax Grabs are so petty. I wonder what Government official will steal the most money from that campaign.


Kwame sounds like he's from the Bill Cambell (former criminal Mayor of Atlanta) school of corrupt city government.

Here's someone that recommends a tax per calorie:



http://www.freep.com/voices/editorials/ ... 050414.htm

I'm sure they worked very hard on a definition that will make 80% of the population happy and make the other 20% complain very loudly.

When was the last time you were in downtown Detroit? There is massive development, particularly around Foxtown, but the Waterfront is moving quickly as well.
There are hundreds of new condos and townhouses right across from Comerica, the huge Compuware/Campus Martius project, tons of new growth around Wayne St, GM moved into the RenCen...
It ain't the grandest city in the world, but there is certainly a lot to look forward to there.

Kwame is. He just got in some shit for spending tens of thousands of city funds for things like dining out and his wife's fancy car. Things he should have paid with his ample salary.
But, like Coleman Young before him, he'll reign as long as he wants to.

I've always thought the Peter Karmanos/Mike Ilitch rivalry was one of the best things that could happen to Detroit. With them constantly trying to outdo eachother, it can only mean more money invested in the city.

As for Kwame, f him. Way to force the closure of the nation's longest running public aquarium.

You're nuts if you think things are turning around in Detroit. The rate of school closings, businesses being taxed out the ass and fleeing (yes, GM is still in the Renassaince Center and Compuware is there, but that's about it), buildings being abandoned, and general state of urban blight is astonishing.

You want to see problems? Just wait until next February when the Super Bowl makes its way to Detroit and there are virtually no hotel rooms to accommodate people. People think Jacksonville had problems getting people around its city? That was nothing compared to what awaits people this time around (when they have to be shuttled in from hotels in the suburbs). They are behind about 65% in infastructure the city promised the NFL to get the Super Bowl. For God's sake, they are planning on putting tarps and advertisments on the facades of abandoned buildings and newly-renovated buildings that won't be open to hide these facts.

I was just in Detroit about two weeks ago and witnessed for myself the sad state of affairs.

Detroit is more than just Woodward Ave. near Comerica Park and the Fox Theatre District and Greektown. That area has been unchanged. Aside from that, what kind of "economic" development do you see happening? What gives you promise? What about the current state affairs leads you to believe that change for the better is just on the horizon? The Super Bowl? The All-Star game? Don't bet on it.

I don't mind this tax at all. Maybe this tax will make someone think twice about the crappy food they're eating because health reasons do not seem enough for a lot of people.

This past weekend I showed my son (11) just how much cheaper it is buying food at the fruit stand and making it yourself versus preprocessed food. He was amazed at the price difference and can't understand when basic food costs that little that kids go to school hungry. He realizes that it is more about the choices people make, too lazy or time rushed to make food from scratch, than the actual cost of fresh fruit and vegetables.

I showed him for $8.00 we bought more than two days worth of food (all 3 meals plus snacks) for an active adult male and an extremely active 11 year old male. But that there was considerable time needed to be spent in food preparation.

This is a good lesson to teach your son about value and healthy food and time investments. I just hope that he doesn't come away with the idea that the only reason kids go hungry is because their parents are lazy or stupid. It's not easy at the end of a long day to spend an hour making a good meal, even if it is totally worth it economicially and health-wise.

I hope you understand what I'm getting at. I know too many people who are completely unsympathetic towards those less fortunate than they are, and it would be a shame for someone to get that attitude from a life lesson that was perfectly well-intentioned and useful.

I'm a single parent so he knows all about the time/$ trade-off. We eat more processed food than I would like but pay a premium to try to healthy pre-processed food.

You're right "It's not easy at the end of a long day to spend an hour making a good meal, even if it is totally worth it economicially and health-wise." But I think when you've chosen to become a parent you've chosen to opt out of anything being easy. Hopefully he's learning about compassion as well. But he also saw me work 1/2 time, go to school full time, live on 4 hours a sleep a night for two years to finish a post grad degree so we can be in the position to not have to worry so much about the time/$ trade-off and still eat reasonably healthy.

There are a lot of people who spend their lives working hard without ever having worked smart.

As soon as I read this, the first thing that popped into my head was "Isn't this the motherfucker that spent Detroit taxpayers' money on an SUV for his wife?"

I throw rocks at Americans when they step foot on my land.

me too! me too!! and i take their wallets full of dollars

I'll point-by-point you later, but real quickly-
There's a ton of new growth along Jefferson from Woodward all the way to Grosse Pointe, Mack Avenue is booming, Grand River near the Fisher Bldg is looking better and better...

I know it's not Portland, Austin, or Nashville..but isn't it incalcuably better than it was 10 years ago?