Detroit Mayor Eyes Fast-Food Tax

If you want fries with that in the Motor City, it may cost you a few more portraits of President Lincoln. The ones engraved on copper. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick wants to levy an additional tax upon fast food purchased in his city. Facing a $300 million budget gap, Kilpatrick plans to ask voters to OK a 2% tax on convenience chow; the extra charge would be in addition to the 6% state sales tax already added to the bill for restaurant meals. According to The Associated Press, debate over the proposed tax has already begun to boil--and cross over traditional lines. Anti-tax advocates for the disadvantaged point out that the primary consumers of fast food are the elderly and poor. Business proponents point out that eateries such as McDonald's and the restaurants owned by Yum! Brands are dependable employers in this economically floundering town. Besides these two groups suddenly united by a common enmity, another fly in the mayo may be the definition of terms. For “Mickey D's”--in popular parlance--and Burger King, the fast-food identity is pretty clear. But would every in-and-out joint, such as hotdog stands and privately owned delis and pizzerias, face the new tax? Another tough call: the nature of chains like Starbucks, which now offers foods. And on a more semantic note, what if it claims to be, as one purveyor of fried chicken claimed, not fast food at all, but merely "good food cooked fast"? http://www.forbes.com/facesinthenews/2005