And if you ask me, YOU guys are the ones who are DRUNK -- on tax revenue!!!!
"States look to liquor to boost economy; Seek to loosen sales restrictions, increase taxes" by Brock Vergakis, Associated Press | February 18, 2009
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah is the only state that requires people to fill out an application and pay a fee before entering a bar.
Oooh! As a prohibitionist, I love it; as a person who loves freedom, screw that!
But the law - enacted 40 years ago in a state where nearly 2 out of 3 residents are members of a religion that shuns drinking - could be on the way out....
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
In Utah and across the country, governors and lawmakers faced with budget deficits are advocating loosening laws that restrict alcohol consumption in the hopes of boosting tax revenues....
Yeah, DON'T WORRY about those DRUNK DRIVERS!!!!!
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Drinkers shouldn't break out the bubbly just yet: Two dozen states, including Massachusetts, California, Oklahoma, and Virginia, are looking to help their budgets by raising alcohol taxes.
You will be getting no help here. :-)
Alcohol taxes are a popular budgetary crutch among lawmakers because liquor sales tend to hold up relatively well, compared with other revenue sources, during hard times, said Steve Schmidt, vice president of the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, based in Alexandria, Va.
Related: A Depression-Proof Industry
And I'll tell you why: when life is already shit, it's a little less shittier with a pie-eyed buzz-on!
In 2008, revenue reported by liquor suppliers rose 2.8 percent from the previous year to $18.7 billion, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.... The council's president, Peter Cressy, calls liquor "recession resilient" not recession proof - a point that industry officials make when cautioning lawmakers about raising taxes.
Earlier this month, distillers in Kentucky poured bottles of bourbon on the statehouse steps there to protest a proposed tax increase.
The Kentucky Whiskey Party!!!!!!!
In Pittsburgh, a 10 percent tax placed on alcohol last year prompted some bars to post signs declaring that the sponsor of the tax was not welcome....
Ben Jenkins, a spokesman for the Distilled Spirits Council.... said many proposals to raise alcohol taxes are rejected because of the potential effects on businesses that serve alcoholic beverages. "Since 2001, we've seen 245 major tax proposals and 227 of them have failed," he said.
And because the American people are SICK of being TAXED to DEATH -- no matter WHAT TAX it is!!!!
Those opposed to changing Utah's liquor laws cite concerns about overconsumption and drunken driving. But religion also plays a key role.
About 60 percent of the state's residents are members of the Mormon church, which tells its members not to drink alcohol. An even greater percentage of lawmakers - 80 percent to 90 percent - are Mormons, though some of them are open to changing the law for the sake of the state's economy.
Not true believers than, are they?
Utah has a $6 billion-a-year tourism industry, and its leaders say the state's liquor laws make it harder to compete with neighboring states for convention and skiing business.
Nothing about the GAY BOYCOTT of the HATE STATE, huh?
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