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As smoking ban marks second year, restaurant business is up
Journal Sentinel ^ | By Alison Bauter of the Journal Sentinel July 5, 2012 | Alison Bauter

Posted on 07/06/2012 9:51:02 PM PDT by Drango

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UP!
1 posted on 07/06/2012 9:51:12 PM PDT by Drango
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To: Drango

Huzzah!
Now they can start taxing people for porking out!
Congratulations.


2 posted on 07/06/2012 9:53:37 PM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Drango

I live in Florida. Bar owners have discovered that if they serve no food, they can allow smoking. Most taverns which follow that script are packed. Those fern bars which cater to the sweeter crowd have more limited attendance.


3 posted on 07/06/2012 9:57:34 PM PDT by Rembrandt (Part of the 51% who pay Federal taxes)
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To: mylife

It started with the smokers, now the tax bullseye is on the back of the restaurant and bar patrons. Don’t complain when you get taxed by the calorie, or have to pay $20 for a shot of whiskey, or $10 for a bottle of beer. As a smoker, I would vote for just such a tax, just to teach you a lesson in individual rights. You voted for it, and now you have given the government a precedent to exploit it, and exploit it they will.


4 posted on 07/06/2012 10:12:25 PM PDT by factoryrat (We are the producers, the creators. Grow it, mine it, build it.)
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To: factoryrat

They never learn.
But I would never vote for a fat tax.


5 posted on 07/06/2012 10:14:43 PM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: mylife

How about a flat tax?


6 posted on 07/06/2012 10:26:24 PM PDT by doc1019 (Voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil.)
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To: Drango

It doesn’t matter if business is up or down because of the ban. Stats are very flexible and can be twisted to show virtually anything. The improvement is debatable.

What’s more important is liberty. So maybe overall business is up, but what about the owner who wanted to cater to smokers. Is their business down? Shouldn’t they have the right to run their own business how they wish?

You could also pass laws mandating that every business serve only health foods. Let’s say, for sake of argument, that people are healthier as a result. That’s a public good, too, so wouldn’t that law be justified under the same principles of the anti-smoking zealots?

BTW, I’m not a smoker, and I detest cigarette smoke. I just don’t see why that gives me the right to deprive other people of their property rights. Unfortunately, we live in an era where citizens like to bludgeon each other with the law. One of most frightening phrases uttered by Americans (all too often): “There ought to be a law!”


7 posted on 07/06/2012 10:28:31 PM PDT by CitizenUSA (Why celebrate evil? Evil is easy. Good is the goal worth striving for.)
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To: doc1019

You’ll never get a flat tax unless the entire system crumbles.
There are to many people making a living off of the current convoluted tax code.
They won’t go quietly into the night.


8 posted on 07/06/2012 10:33:47 PM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Drango

so they take credit for good trends but the bad trend of bars and taverns...ahh its been like that for years


9 posted on 07/06/2012 11:52:34 PM PDT by lifeisagame
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To: Drango
They say business has gone up after the ban was in effect. They don't say how much it went down during the transition.

Similar reporting, from ND: 1982, rig count in the region drops from 212 to 54. By 1986, the rig count was down to 2. In the same year a headline proclaimed "Oil drilling activity doubles!" (rig count had gone up to 4).

All sorts of games can be played with statistics and the reporting thereof. How many businesses went under, too?

10 posted on 07/07/2012 12:05:49 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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To: Drango; Hunton Peck; Diana in Wisconsin; P from Sheb; Shady; DonkeyBonker; Wisconsinlady; JPG; ...

Wisconsin eating out without smoking ping

FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.


11 posted on 07/07/2012 2:11:42 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: Drango; Eric Blair 2084; SheLion; Gabz; Hank Kerchief; 383rr; libertarian27; traviskicks; ...
UP!

Yeah, up your nose with a rubber hose.

Nanny State PING!

12 posted on 07/07/2012 2:24:32 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Occupy DC General Assembly: We are Marxist tools. WE ARE MARXIST TOOLS!)
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To: Drango

“Based on state tax collection data, Hanson said restaurant and tavern sales overall increased 1% in 2010 and 2% in 2011, mirroring national trends.”

Of course, that 1% couldn’t possibly have anything to do with price increases due to the increased food and oil prices?


13 posted on 07/07/2012 3:26:58 AM PDT by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like it)
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To: factoryrat
So when do they go after all you can eat fish fries or buffets? They could weigh the patrons when they come in and leave to assess a new tax. ;-)
14 posted on 07/07/2012 3:33:37 AM PDT by Average Al (Forbidden fruit leads to many jams.)
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To: Drango

Why post this j/ s crap? Another Saturday am shot to hell.


15 posted on 07/07/2012 3:36:23 AM PDT by damncat
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To: Drango
Conversely, the subcategory of bars and taverns saw around a 4% decrease during that time, but Hanson notes that trend has been ongoing for many years.

Nice spin their Hanson.

No doubt another Nany-State, leftist Bureaucrat who has never held a real job in his life and knows 0 about the restaurant business.

Whereby the avg. profit margin on food is 8 - 14%, the avg profit margins on alcohol is 20 - 30%.

Thus if a restaurant has gross sales of say, $200,000 in food and an equal amount in alcohol, their increased profits of (Whoopee!) 1% in food = a WHOPPING $2,000....

...while their DECREASE of 4% profit in alcohol, = a LOSS of $8,000.

Does not take a math genius to figure out that $8,000 - $1,000 = a NET LOSS of $7,000, but hey, we are saving the chillun's health dontcha know?

16 posted on 07/07/2012 4:11:14 AM PDT by Conservative Vermont Vet
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To: Drango

>>It’s been great for the health of our employees and customers.” <<

Well that’s based on a lie.


17 posted on 07/07/2012 4:19:50 AM PDT by netmilsmom (Romney scares me. Obama is the freaking nightmare that is so bad you are afraid to go back to sleep)
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To: Drango

I see you are celebrating the trampling of private property rights. Your ilk brought us Obamacare and you will soon be able to celebrate a long list of liberty trampling activities.

While the death of liberty makes me sick to my stomach, you celebrate. Jefferson had a fine suggestion to resolve this situation.


18 posted on 07/07/2012 5:40:21 AM PDT by CSM (Keeper of the Dave Ramsey Ping list. FReepmail me if you want your beeber stuned.)
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To: mylife
They won’t go quietly into the night.

That's why they should be hung in broad daylight. Right after they have been tarred and feathered.

19 posted on 07/07/2012 7:43:15 AM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal The 16th Amendment!)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Thanks for the ping!


20 posted on 07/07/2012 8:08:35 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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