http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/09/news/economy/fastfood_tax/index.htm?cnn=yes

WTF over??? What is this all about??? Not only am I a single man, I pay extra tax on gas, alcohol and cigarettes, now they want me to pay extra for my food too???

I don't mind it, but I don't have to pay it. Even if I did, I would support it. People really shouldn't buy at fast food places anyway, its so bad for them.

But anyway, if Kwame wants to balance the budget, he should cut out the luxery rides for his wife.

I hate fast food places. They are absolutely horrible for people's bodies (as well as soda/pop/coke). I mean, places like Subway are at least somewhat healthy and they serve some pretty good samiches. McDs, BK, Hot 'N Now (are any of those left), etc should be taxed or shut down IMO.

I guess one way my buddy looks at it is that "if they can tax gas, they can damn well tax fast food joints for creating an atmosphere for obese people." I agree with that somewhat, but who am I to say what some skinny or overweight person wants to eat. However, I guess I'm hypocritical because there are so many problems directly linked to obesity in the US. Health care for an obese person is so much more than an "average" weight person.

Either way, the tax is 2%. That's 6 cents on a $3 burger. If someone is going to avoid a fast food place to save 6 cents, they obviously didn't want the burger that bad. The tax is an extra way to get money while, very, very slowly, trying to curb the effect of the fast food industry on Americans.

I agree with Bsand. It's the higher-ups/government officials that use their expense accounts (taxpayers money) and such for stupid rectum things.

I've stopped eating at fast food places all together after watching "Super Size Me" and reading "Fast Food Nation"...

The crap they put in burgers, and other items. It's so unhealthy for you... find alternatives.

I guess my viewpoint is, why not have cheaper, healthier alternatives to fast food? I have to pay extra money for lunch to get something other than sugar water (pop). That's crap. Why is it that if you want to get a healthy item for lunch, you have to have more money?

Enough ranting. I don't think it's a bad idea. 2% isn't terrible.

Have you seen Kwame Kilpatrick lately? He's one burger away from an extreme makeover show featuring Dr. Liposuction.

2% = 10 cents on a $ 5 fast food order. I don't think that will chase anyone away.

As an ex smoker I'm glad to see someone else paying a tax instead of the smokers and drinkers in this country.

I think many of you are missing the point.
Yes, fast food is bad for you. But the last time I heard, this was America and people can choose to inhale whatever type of food they want.
And the tax, though minimal in it's stature, speaks volumes about how poorly the city of Detroit is run. Between Kilpatrick and the City Council there is more erroneous expenditure that goes unchecked than you can shake a stick at. Why should the people who live and work in Detroit pay additional taxes when they are already paying a city tax?

Kwame was the absolute WORST choice to become mayor of this city and he will drag them further into the abyss.

He sets a fine example when he attends a kick-off for the Super Bowl and announces he has to leave right after introducing Paul Tagliabue. Nice going.............rectum! The Super Bowl committee worked their butts off to get this event brought back to Detroit, they have a kick off party, and the mayor goes bye-bye? This event will bring millions of dollars into the city, but it's not important enough for him to stay a couple hours?

What's the problem Kwame? One of your whores called and threatened to tell your wife if you didn't go see her slide down the brass pole? Did you have to go buy another $25,000 Ford for a year? Or did you have to go wolf down four or five Big Macs before the tax you want to impose kicks in? No, I know what it was.......he had to go interview some more rotten cops under investigation for assault, murder or drug possession to add to his personal security staff of power drunk assholes!

Just because we live in a free society doesn't mean that the government does not have the right to tax. I agree that there is a lot of unnessecary spending that should be cut, that is true for every single govervment budget in the country, from Federal all the way down to municipalities(sp).

Besides the responsibilty of government is to protect our general welfare. If this tax keeps one family from eating at Mickey D's all the time, it wil be worth it anyway, even though thats not what it was intended to do.

-no comment-

Mike, I feel that the general concesus is that it doesn't matter if there's a tax as far as the 2 pennies on a dollar goes, I mean, who will even notice?

It seems as though everyone agrees that the luxeries of the officers in place could be cut out and the budget could be halved. I personally know from my corporate experience, that company officers could go buy a boat, use it for a couple conference meetings, and write it off as a company expense. Okay, maybe that's a fairly extreme example, but it's been done. Talk about BS.

You can't tell someone what not to eat, but you could tax something that's bad for your body (like cigs and booze) and put that money into the health care system. That would be the smart thing to do IMO, but they're not doing that. They're covering up a debt they created.

My question to you is: Do you think that the tax for cigs and booze should be in place? Other than that, I agree with what you said about Kwame.