State Senator Tom Colapietro is full of suds (and himself).
From the Bristol Press via www.ctcapitolreport.com.
BRISTOL — Though the pressure to drop Connecticut’s ban on Sunday sales of beer, wine and liquor is growing, the state senator who has blocked its repeal for years is determined to hold the line for as long as he can.
?If you can’t satisfy your quench for alcohol on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday and you need it on Sunday, then you need help,” said state Sen. Tom Colapietro, a Bristol Democrat.
What an argument. If you believe cola-head’s logic, 90 percent of the country would “need help.” Sure, let’s have a 12-step program for a few hundred million people. So let’s see now, if you can’t satisfy your quench for alcohol on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday does that mean anyone who wants Saturday liquor sales needs help? If you you can’t satisfy your quench for alcohol on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday does that mean anyone who wants Friday and Saturday sales needs help?
Colapietro was responding to three city mayors, including Bill Finch’s call to open up Sunday sales to generate additional revenue during tough economic times. The liquor lobby is against Sunday sales because gee, that means shop owners would have to work Sunday. Well, don’t open on Sunday if you don’t want to work! If you want to work Sunday close Monday. What a bunch of whiners; cola-head, a former lobbyist, included.
Schiff No Stiff
Peter Schiff, the economic guru who predicted the nation’s financial collapse, is the other Republican running for U.S. Senate. The two leading Republicans, Linda McMahon and former Congressman Rob Simmons, are duking it out for the GOP nomination to challenge presumptive Democratic nominee Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Schiff made an appearance before the Bridgeport Republican Town Committee the other day. He has a lot to say (that makes sense) including criticism of both the Bush and Obama stimulus packages that he says exacerbated the financial bleeding. Check out his remarks here. Schiff is introduced by GOP Town Chair Marc Delmonico.
Pretty soon these politicians are going to run out of things to tax. Yes they can open up liquor sales on Sunday but in reality is that going to really put a dent in the deficit?
When are these spendthrift bastards going to realize they have to stop spending? They are going to have to cut the workforce and they are going to have to stop passing legislation that costs the taxpayers money.
Here is an example of the politicians spending our money.
The CBDG grant money is our money it was announced in today’s paper that approx $690K in grant money is going to repair a 24-unit co-op on Gilmore street. That comes out to approx $30K per unit. When did I become responsible for coop units in Bridgeport? When my roof leaks there is no grant money to fix it. When my boiler breaks down there is no grant money to fix it. I am sure that more than 24 families in Bridgeport could have benefited from this grant money. Maybe we could have helped over 130 families repair or replace broken heating units. The object is to help as many as possible. Do you think? DUH!!! that there was a little politics played when this grant was awarded? Do the names Martinez and Ayala strike a bell?
tc, political factions positioning for Democratic Town Committee seats in the 137th may come into play as well.
Lennie that is a given just watch the results when the primary is over. Interesting sidebar to this is and I won’t mention names but: Who is the chairperson for CBDG committee? This person has a large coop much larger than Gilmore street in his district that has been looking for financial help for years.To date they have received SQUAT.
Thanks Len I sure lived it up for my Bday. YOU know the big 21 is here. Just when I was 19 a year 1 year and 3 months ago I cast my vote for Barack at the age 19 one of the greatest feelings in my life.
Very, very slow day on the blogosphere.
Come on Lenny, no juicy rumors from the power party you were at yesterday???
Pry it open. Give everyone a look.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, there’s always tomorrow. But Grin, you have juicier rumors than I do.
Lennie we kept the blog busy all weekend and you had it off. This topic sucks. How about a little investigative reporting on the CBDG grant just given out or Where is the PT Barnum Fire report. When does Marsilio transfer to Stratford DPW and when do we send Feeney to Trumbull? Seems like we have a perfect circle going.
And hey, maybe Finch will place you back on a city commission?
I think not.
Mr. Colapietro is protecting the small package store owner whose “day of rest” each week happens to coincide with CT’s historic “blue laws” that honored the Sabbath of CT’s original Puritan settlers. That is what my memory tells me anyway. You can get on premises alcohol seven days per week, if not 24 hours per day. So the freedom to drink is not abridged too horribly. Of course the freedom to drink and then drive is difficult to manage, if it takes several occasions of “bad choices” to put you away from keys, cars, as well as off-premise or on-premise consumption. Such are our times.
Is the amount of alcohol purchased off-premise going to increase because of Sunday openings? (Thus increasing taxes.) Why? Isn’t a little of the off-premise purchase total just going to get reallocated from Monday-Saturday to Sunday??? And if that is what happens then a number of small package stores will go out of business, with people out of work, real estate sites vacant, greater distances to the big stores, etc.? Where is the gain for the consumer, the State?
About taxation, take a look at Schiff’s explanation of what happened and is ongoing. Why has Chris Dodd missed this with his bird’s-eye view on the Banking Committee? And his bully pulpit for guiding us away from danger? It is coming true as Schiff claims. And one of the problems that provides an excuse to the elected is the public’s appetite for getting the benefit today and not paying for it by deferring it to the future in terms of funding, borrowing, bonding, etc. And the next time you talk to your banker see if he will let you improve the look of your balance sheet by placing cash or another asset on the statement but posting the corresponding liability off the balance sheet? Does anyone begin to recognize the size of that problem in the trillions? Who must pay for this?
So if we are thinking tax cuts are the way out, you are dreaming? And if we need reform, perhaps it is about Town Hall meetings where responsibilities are discussed and prioritized and then, and only then, will new budgets be formed, actually cutting into those things that are a lower priority to the taxpayer voter today. Get rid of what we as a group do not find valuable, or indicate as low priority, and provide sound and practical funding, not too dependent on the “kindness” of others, but paid currently with our tax dollars. That may bring sanity back to our markets, be seen as a mark of strength by the people (China, Japan, and our own GOVT.???), holding our promises today, and allow a vision beyond “shopping on Sunday” for that which we want to consume on Sunday. Sound planning, good execution, and follow-up review are strategic parts of successful businesses, military operations, surviving non-governmental organizations. Why don’t we demand this of legislators and legislation?