4 Cases of Pop in Chicago, $354

They stuffed the ballot box, but Chicago will probably lose out anyway. Why? Cost. Convention business is going elsewhere. ABC7:

Plastics News sent ABC7 a recent letter from an exhibitor at the NPE convention at McCormick Place in June. The exhibitor ordered four cases of pop for his booth. The bill totaled $354.39. Here's the breakdown:

$254 for the Pepsi products,

a 21% service charge,

10.25% state sales tax,

3% Chicago soft drink tax,

a tax on the service charge and a food and beverage tax.

Government taxes, the exhibitor said, totaled $38.06.

"Now, a nice man in a tuxedo delivered the Pepsi, along with a couple of buckets of ice and a few cups," wrote Tim Hanrahan, CEO of Erema North America. "Good service? Sure, but not worth $345.39."

The four cases of pop could have been purchased for roughly $30 at a local grocery store.

There you go.