Posted on 06/16/2008 1:45:29 PM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
PITTSBURGH - A stiff drink comes with a stiff tax in Pittsburgh and surrounding towns these days, and that has made the county executive public enemy No. 1 in some quarters, reviled by name in song and on bar bills.
Even comedians have gotten into the act, complaining that rising drink tabs meant fewer people coming to see them perform and pouring wine and liquor into a river in a mock restaging of the Boston Tea Party.
The 10 percent drink tax, in effect since January, was pushed along by Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato to subsidize public transit. The two-term Democrat says he had no choice; swallow that, he said, or property taxes would have to be hiked.
Many bar and restaurant owners are frothing over the county surcharge, and are making sure that the name of its sponsor is as well-known as, say, Sam Adams and Jim Beam. With rising fuel and food costs and a weak economy, they say, the tax is just one big fly in their beer.
"I've been in this business for 40 years and I've never seen a more difficult or challenging time," says Kevin Joyce, owner of The Carlton restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
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One of these days ... ONE OF THESE DAYS .. Allegheny County will tax itself into prosperity!!!1!
If you don't drink, they don't drive?.................
Yeah, because there is no way to close the gay senior center or the environmental education center.
The last working person left in Pittsburgh will have one whopper of a tax bill................
Every elected or appointed official should be treated like this clown.
Brew your own or bootleg it in ... no sense giving the government any more undeserved tax money than possible.
And the bloated union salaries, and the premium union medical benefits and the gold plated union pension benefits...
I really enjoy working downtown, but I wouldn’t want to live there. Tax, tax, tax. The county is crumbling. Parts of the county are a shooting gallery. But, by all means, let’s protect the contract for all the surly bus drivers.
I wonder how many of the people complaining about the tax voted for the county executive. I’d guess most of ‘em.
Wait until the smoker ban takes effect...........
Ooh, ooh, I’ve got it. Put a large surtax on FOOD. Everybody will pay it because they need food and will keep on buying it. Not like “sin taxes” where people will quit rather than pay it. And it will punish big food.
Oh, and put in check points to catch people bringing black market food into the county. And really tax those people raising their own food because that costs less than buying it in a store. And hunters, look out.
I bet the smokers would be dancing in the streets if they paid only 10% in taxes.
Glad I live down in Washigton county. We are booming down here, where real estate is stil going up and lots of construction. Allegheny county is run by the dumbest bunch of monkeys this side of the Bronx Zoo. They must be trying to win some sort of contest with Detroit and Bridgeport Conn for the worst run city. They are obessessed with keeping the rotting public transportion system going at any cost. We have real bunch of winners here in Western Pa, from the that ventroloquist dummy of congressmen Jason Altmire to the traitor Murtha we are leaderless in Washington. But then again folks in Western Pa were never know to be the brightest bunch when it came to picking politicians. Funny how the schlubs in Pitt complain about this drink tax but could care less about rising property taxes, sales taxes, regulations. When thier alcoholic ox is gored they bleat like sheep.
How about a tax on public transit. That way the taxes could pay for the subsidies for public transit and if the subsidies work to convince people to ride the buses the tax money available for further subsidies go up. Or maybe you could just charge the actual cost for public transit.
I live in Pittsburgh. Some of the bus drivers that have been drivers for a while have free health care for life after they retire for themselves and their family. Some of the drivers with overtime make 6 figures.
No one points a gun at my company and forces them to even give me a 2% raise. Why should my money be taking at the point of a gun and given to someone who is WAY overpaid.
Or conjugating verbs.
(Easy...I'm originally from the 'burgh)
They elect democrats and then they’re shocked when the democrats they elect act like... democrats!
Same here in NJ.
NYC was losing money operating a betting parlor.
Yet in private hands these are tremendous money makers.
Can anybody name one thing that any government agency has run for a profit?
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