A few weeks ago, a sizable family-owned restaurant in Pine City closed its doors. This article in the Pine City Pioneer tells the story, but in short, Reddog Billy’s owner Jeff Flaherty said the economy did him in. According to the Pioneer story, Flaherty cited four specific reasons that contributed to the closing of his restaurant:
- the lower .08 percent blood alcohol content threshold for DUI offenses
- the higher minimum wage
- higher food and liquor taxes in Minnesota compared to Wisconsin
- the implementation of Minnesota’s indoor smoking ban.
Now, I’ve only met Mr. Flaherty a couple times, and I can’t say that I know him personally, so I don’t know whether he has strong political leanings. I do know, however, that he is an experienced business person. He did not go into the restaurant business in Pine City green. He knows how to run a business, and as I read the article, it appears that he is speaking from the standpoint of his own experience and his own business expertise.
Mr. Flaherty did not appear to have a personal axe to grind or to play the victim as portrayed in the Pioneer article. He even went so far as to say that the opening of the new sports bar in town, Chubby’s, did not negatively impact his own business. He stated that the more choices a town has, more people will come to town.
While the lower blood alcohol content was not necessarily a partisan issue when it passed the Minnesota Legislature, it’s safe to say that Democrats in the legislature are mostly responsible for the other policies that forced the closing of Reddog Billy’s. These policies that liberal Democrats push with their heads in the sand, not thinking, or not caring, about the consequences are in fact forcing employers to close their doors and/or move to other states.
Reddog Billy’s at its peak employed 43 people. That is 43 people who are now either in the unemployment lines, driving farther to go to work, or having to work for less money.
To make matters worse, some local House members voted Monday to deny bar owners the option of having a “smoking room” where patrons could go to have a smoke. This amendment would have allowed employees the option of not entering the “smoking room”. Democrats voting to deny business owners this option were Rep. Tim Faust (Hinckley), Rep. Bill Hilty (Finlayson) and Rep. Gail Kulik-Jackson (Milaca). You would think Rep. Faust would especially know better, since the closing of Reddog’s should be fresh in his mind. Additionally, the temporary closing of the Sportsman’s Cafe in Mora was also blamed on the smoking ban by its manager.
Do you think Rep. Faust’s vote was influenced by the fact that one of his key campaign donors is a medical doctor and one of the most vociferous advocates of the smoking ban in the area? Just food for thought.
When liberals told us that businesses can absorb a higher minimum wage, that people will flock to restaurants when the smoking ban is implemented, and that employers don’t actually leave the state when we raise their taxes, real world experitnce tells us something different.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am an employee of the Minnesota House of Representatives in the Republican Caucus. This blog is not paid for or endorsed in any way by any legislative caucus, political party, candidate or candidate’s committee. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of any entity but the administrator of the East Central Truth Detector Blog.
very partisan. For example, when a President gives the state of the union address, members of his party will applaud at all the appropriate places in the speech, and if the point is particularly poignant, they will stand and cheer. Conversely, members of the opposing party, while usually polite, will remain silent when most of the applause lines are delivered, unless it’s a point that nearly everyone can agree with.