Posted on 06/23/2002 9:26:10 PM PDT by chance33_98
Smoking Ban Hurting Tempe Restaurants
Tempe, June 19 (AP) -- It may be a breath of fresh air to walk into restaurants here and not smell smoke, but restaurant and bar owners say they're smothering.
They are asking the City Council to do something to ease the financial pain arising from the new, restrictive anti-smoking ordinance.
A number of owners say revenue is down by as much as 20 percent since the voter-approved ordinance took effect May 30. They plan to outline their concerns during a council meeting Thursday.
"You can either kill yourself with gloom and doom, or you can take the tack that clean air is far better than dirty air," said Lee Fairbanks, who spearheaded the campaign to restrict smoking. "It's healthy, it's better than sitting in a cloud of cancerous smoke."
Since Tempe voters approved the most stringent smoking ban in the area, police have responded to 38 complaints of smokers in bars and restaurants but issued no citations.
No, no no, they always had absolute power, but just didn't realize it till the last 70 years. Those stupid founding fathers - They could have banned the opium and pot they smoked, and didn't even realize it. The Commerce Claus was intended to give the Feds power over everything. Those idiot dead white males(/sarcasm).
Sorry. Don's not interest in any sort of live and let-live co-existence. He wants to have everything HIS way with the nanny-state doing the enforcing. ...and he calls smokers selfish! SHEESH!!
I would hate to try counting the number of hick towns that I have passed through in many states and overseas that had a grocery, a gas station, and 5 or 6 bars. The gas station and grocery might be on the brink of brankrupcty, but the bars have no problem making money. I suspect that the alcohol and bar girls might have something to do with that.
...will be the least of your worries when the people decide to take the county back.
If you can talk someone into building three bars for that express purpose, you go right ahead. I don't go to bars anyway.
Tally, I will take that as a threat. Shove it.
You're more right than you think (I AM assuming that you think, of course). We are either a nation of laws based on individual liberty and responsibility or we're not. People like you who whine when something doesn't go their way are perpetuating the downfall of our republic and will then whine to the rest of us when something is banned that you hold dear for some perceived "benefit" to the masses.
Ky, you just put both feet into your mouth. Look at my response to him.
You just can't stand someone voicing an dissenting opinion, can you.
...thanks to people who found it easier to rely upon government force to have their wishes granted than to rely on their own powers of self-determination and self-reliance. As long as people are human, there will be no utopia and EVERYBODY needs to understand that NOBODY can always have things their way. People who smoke realize that they cannont smoke where ever they wish and you (non-smokers) need to realize the same thing and quite whining and looking to government to fight your battles and make your decisions for you. Anyone remember prohibition? This is, in MHO, the reason the nico-nazis don't call for an outright outlawing of all smoking - what the state "only" regulates, it can tax - and whatever the 'state' can convince the sheople is bad for them is subject to even heavier taxation (sin? taxes anyone?). The entire smoking vs. non-smoking dog and pony show is nothing more than a means to divide and conquer on the road to more power over our daily lives. Sadly, most of the anti-smoking folks haven't figured this out yet (and won't until it's too late).
OOHHH!! I liked this so well that I just had to repeat it!! HEAR!! HEAR!! APPLAUSE!!!!
I wouldn't need to talk them into anything. The free market system will convince a certain percentage of owners to position themselves into each of the three areas I outlined above. No government interference will be necessary, and nonsmokers will still be free to choose a smoke-free establishment. Solutions like these happen on their own everyday, provided markets are allowed to function properly.
Actually, you didn't anwser his question. You changed the scenario to suit what you wanted to say. Besides, if you weren't an advocate of forcing your wishes on others, we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place. N'est ce pas?
As for your next post (#129): I dearly LOVE hashing over ideas with those who have a disenting opinions. I find that there is usually much to learn for those on both sides of most arguemnts. Where I draw the line in the sand, however, is with those who believe their "wishes" trump the "right" to be left alone of others or who advocate enforcing THEIR wishes on others with the threat of the police state to back them up.
Prove it.
Show us the study that has not been debunked or invalidated that says ETS is any more dangerous than drinking milk.
In a capitalistic society, the owners will, of course, make the decision that will either insure or increase their profit margin without any government interference being necessary. It is the foundation of a free land and to do otherwise (ie - mandating/outlawing by government) is the hallmark of Communism. What will you say when they come after something that you may hold dear if you say nothing now?"
Nice try! Keep stirring the pot, Meyers.
What you are advocating, that the government have the absolute power to regulate every aspect of your business is diametrically opposed to the intent of our Constitutional government was instituted. Blacks were 100% right to demand equal access to all government facilities, offices,schools and colleges and duties and rights.
But let's face facts: Blacks were denied all of these things by law, by the GOVERNMENT!
The government completely overstepped its' limits when they started calling everything except your house a "public accomadation" and more and more productive people of all ethnic and racial make-up are starting to come out of the ether on this.
If Loooie Farakkan or Barry Bonds wants to open a hotel or a bar that caters to black tourists or black baseball fans or I want to open a bar that caters to UFO abduction survivors or my black partner and I want to open a gin mill that caters to smokers, it is none of the gub'mints' business.
You just gave him what he wanted, a way to change the subject. Smoking is irrelevant. He doesn't want people to focus on him being a thug. That's why he wants to talk about health issues.
What has been happening is that people have been building one establishment and letting the devil take the hindmost.
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