Cheshire Cat Photo Blog(...said the Cat: 'we're all mad here....')

So, the rest of America and much of the world says, “What? MacDonald’s Happy Meals were BANNED in San Francisco?” (Note added November 23, 2010: And they are AGAIN! “Right thing, Wrong way, IMHO. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors have OVERRIDDEN Mayor Newsom’s veto. When do you think that the Board will learn to do the jobs that voters have elected them to perform?)

Today, San Francisco Mayor (and CA Lieutenant Governor-elect) Gavin Newsom vetoed the city ban on most MacDonald’s Happy Meals with toys. The CNN story quotes Newsom:

“Parents, not politicians, should decide what their children eat, especially when it comes to spending their own money,” said Newsom. “Despite its good intentions, I cannot support this unwise and unprecedented governmental intrusion into parental responsibilities and private choices.”

Newsom also released a report about a public-private partnership that is fighting childhood obesity, and the new fresher, more healthful diet of San Francisco’s 55,000-plus public school children.

Even though eight of the 11 members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors originally voted for the legislation, Newsom is hoping that at least one member will reconsider after the veto, according to his spokesman Tony Winnicker. “One of the eight is not entirely comfortable with it and some of them are getting heat as this thing is being mocked around the world.”

I have noted before that many California politicians do not realize how EXTREME their views are, on either the political Right or the Left.

A study by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity was cited by the sponsor of the legislation, Eric Mar.

“The study said that the fast-food industry spent $4.2 billion on advertising in 2009, that 40 percent of preschool-age children ask to go to McDonald’s on a weekly basis, and that 15 percent ask on a daily basis. Also, 84 percent of parents say they’ve taken their children to eat fast food at least once in the past week.”

Nutritional requirements of the vetoed legislation are presented in the CNN article.

-Bill at

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