Taxwinkle opponent Fioretti proposed a commuter tax when he was a Chicago alderman

Fioretti

While I was in Detroit I learned that former Chicago alderman Bob Fioretti announced that he is running for president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, in other words, he's the only declared opponent of the loathed Toni "Taxwinkle" Preckwinkle, the leftist behind the county soda tax and the increase of the county sales tax.

The repeal of the hated one-cent-per-ounce sweetened beverage tax takes effect next month.

But if you see somehow see Fioretti as a friend of hard-pressed Crook County taxpayers, then you need an education. Not only is Fioretti not ruling out future tax hikes if he's elected, but it's important to remind voters, particularly suburban ones, that Fioretti, in his brief Chicago mayoral run two years ago, proposed a one-percent commuter tax.

"Yes, people in the suburbs may not want to pay it, but I;ve heard from a number of suburbanites. When they come here, they want what? They want safe streets. They want clean streets. They want emergency medical care if something happens to them," Fioretti said three years ago. "And so, a small tax – which they can deduct off of their income tax – is helpful for this city."

It's always a small tax with liberals. Until a few years when the rate goes up. That's why new taxes should be vigorously opposed.

If the Republican House tax bill becomes law, that commuter tax deduction will vanish.

Speaking of Detroit, the Motor City also has a commuter tax.

How is that working out?