Monday, May 09, 2005

Worst Mayor in the US


Kwame Kilpatrick, fresh off the honor of being named one of the worst mayors in the US by Time Magazine, has proposed to address the city's $300 million budget shortcoming through a multitude of budget cuts and fee increases. Now, he's proposing a new tax: A fast food tax.
The Mayor will ask voters to approve a 2% tax on all fast food sales, on top of the 6% state sales tax already tacked onto restaurant sales.

Detroit was already dubbed the fattest city in America by Mens Health Magazine in 2004 (dropped to 3rd fattest in 2005), and since Detroit IS the primary DemoncRAT outpost in the state of Michigan, this shouldn't be a surprise that this is getting play in the MSM as a 'fat tax' and being all about the better health of the citizens.

But, even Kilpatrick's potential opponents in this year's mayor race have been saying that the only health he's looking out for is the financial health of the city.

Not since the administration of Coleman Young has the leadership of the city of Detroit been so out of control and has the city been overrun by so many controversies, ranging from the lease of a $25,000 Navigator for the mayor's wife to the use of a city paid credit card to pay for trips to Atlanta and Chicago and hundreds of dollars worth of alcohol and food in each city.

I lived in the Detroit area some time ago, during the last few years of the Young administration and the first several years of the Archer administration. I was optimistic of the city's turnaround under Dennis Archer, and despite the fact that he was a Democrat, he had common sense, and knew that the only way that Detroit could turn around is to get rid of the corruption and rivalry that had been a trademark of the Young administration. He did it, got the Tigers to stay in the city, got the Lions to move downtown, got many companies to invest money in Detroit. For a while, it looked like the city was going to turn it around. But now, it's more business as usual.

Where have you gone, Dennis Archer?

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