An editorial in the New York Times says it's time for Sunday beer sale in Connecticut, a move that might bring in more tax revenue for the state but is opposed by state Sen. Tom Colapietro, a Bristol Democrat, who is co-chair of the legislative panel that oversees the issue.
“We will not be able to drink our way out of this problem,” Colapietro told the paper.
It's amazing to me to see how much interest there is in this tiny sideshow of an issue this year. With an $8 billion budget gap to worry about, journalists, the public and politicians are arguing about whether to drop the law that closes off alcohol sales on Sunday? The money at stake is not even a drop in the mug given the magnitude of the state's fiscal problems.
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
8 comments:
Steve,
I agree that this is a side show to the bigger problem of the state budget. That being said I think the reason this is getting so much play is it seems like such a no brainer to many people, that it hard to understand the arguement against it.
So why is Tom bothering? Why doesn't he speak up about where we can cut state expenditures? We've got bigger problems than selling booze on Sunday.
When they allowed Sunday beer sales in Boston, it was a huge deal. It just happens to be one of those hot button issues, no matter what else is going on locally or around the rest of the country.
I'm trying hard to find something Tom Colapietro is for that I support. At one time the NRA gave him a good rating and he initially came out against gay marriage (until the bosses in the Dem Party made him change his tune slightly). And I at first thought I may agree with him on this.
Without considering what tough economic times we are in, I guess I might agree with him. We don't need booze sold on Sunday. But these are tough times, especially fiscally. Alcohol sales go up or at least aren't affected by recessions. Booze sales are a way of brining in mcuh needed revenues. Tom Colapietro doesn't see that fact apparently and he is wrong on this issue. Allowing alcohol sales on Sunday will increase tax revenues and will help the economy.
But if the cost to businesses is greater than needed, who cares if we get an extra day for tax collection. I'm all for buying beer on Sunday's, but I'm not sold on whether at the moment it makes good business sense.
"But if the cost to businesses is greater than needed, who cares if we get an extra day for tax collection"
What? The CONSUMER pays the tax (sales), not the business. And believe me, it's worth it to them to be open on Sunday...and it's not manditory anyway (LOL).
The student's comment about good business sense just cracked me up.
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