The left keeps pulling the knots tighter. They never get enough power, never enough control. The Democrat party has always loved being slave masters.
Take the covid rules that are imposed on bars. To me, you either open the bars or close the bars. Don’t allow bars (or any business) to open, and then tie their hands with arbitrary rules that guarantee financial ruin.
In an effort to keep crowd size down, cities have decreed that in order to go out with a friend or two for a cold adult beverage, patrons must buy food to go with the drinks. What if you DON’T want food? Tough luck. And if bars disagree?
“Any establishment that receives three violations will be closed for business,” Cuomo told reporters during a conference call. (That’s another topic for another column…licensing. More and more businesses have been forced to become licensed over the years, usually behind the false banner of “consumer protection.” Under capitalism, lousy or dangerous businesses simply fail. This highlights the real motivation [other than more fees and taxes]. Licensing gives the government control over the business, including the power to pull the license. It’s all about leverage. Comply or suffer.)
To get around this, bar owners started serving $1 “meals”. The most publicized meal was “Cuomo Chips”, which started making news about a week ago.
A New York pub has figured out a cheap and easy way to comply with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s order that bars sales of alcoholic beverages without food: simply selling them a $1 order of potato chips.
FRESH COOKED KETTLE CHIPS
“I mean why not, they’re his chips, they’re his rule so he might as well get some recognition and acknowledgment for another little hurdle we have to jump through as business owners,” said Harvey’s Irish Pub Owner Matthew Bagely. “For the time being until we have more information — that’s food. And you can buy it for a dollar,” he said.
The governor’s new edict says patrons must be seated and order a food item in order to get drinks.
Initially, the Cuomo administration had no objection to the $1 menus. The guidelines stated: “Purchase of a food item which is consistent with the food availability requirement of the license under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law shall mean that for each patron in a seated party, an item of food must be purchased at the same time as the purchase of the initial alcoholic beverage(s). Food items intended to compliment the tasting of alcoholic beverages, which shall mean a diversified selection of food that is ordinarily consumed without the use of tableware and can be conveniently consumed, including but not limited to: cheese, fruits, vegetables, chocolates, breads, mustards and crackers.”
To me, it sounds like Cuomo Chips fits the bill. The Cuomo administration agreed. Rich Azzopardi, senior adviser to Cuomo, said that buying $1 chips complies with the food-requirement rule. “It’s consistent with the guidance — but you have to be seated,” Azzopardi said.
Handshakes Bar and Grill in the Hudson Valley created a new menu:
Cuomo’s Unnecessary Obligated Menu Options. The diner already serves typical food like burgers and steaks, but the new menu allowed customers to order onion rings or fries or corn chips with salsa for a dollar.
Then, things changed. Why? Because the nannies want to squeeze and squeeze. And maybe Cuomo got pissed off at being mocked. The menus poked fun at Cuomo’s rules.
The Cuomo brothers are known to be egomaniacs. They like to push and boss and control. They like to threaten. ‘They think Cuomo Chips is funny? I’ll show them!’
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made it even harder for cash-strapped watering holes and restaurants to churn back to life — by declaring that a bag of chips is no longer enough to comply with the requirement that they serve food with booze.
Cuomo last Thursday issued that rule, as well as a statewide ban on walk-up bar service, as part of his crackdown on violations of social-distancing rules.
Look at how they detail the stupid food rule. It’s the typical behavior of the Nannies. Like dictating soft drink sizes.
According to the new SLA guidance, a bag of chips or nuts does not meet the food requirement, but “sandwiches, soups or other foods, whether fresh, processed, precooked or frozen,” do pass muster.
“Other foods,” according to the SLA, “are foods which are similar in quality and substance to sandwiches and soups; for example, salads, wings, or hotdogs would be of that quality and substance.”
“However,” the guidance says, “a bag of chips, bowl of nuts, or candy alone are not.”
What morons. “Earlier today, Governor Cuomo said chicken wings are not substantial food for bars to be allowed to sell alcohol,” reporter Stephen Marth said Thursday. “He added that sandwiches were the ‘lowest level’ of substantive food.” It was later clarified that wings really are food. Geez. And again, entrepreneurs will figure out a way around the stupidity. Like a Light Lunch, 1 wing for $1. Then what Cuomo, a three wing minimum?
Owner of Queens-based Lowery Bar & Kitchen Anne Muldoon emphasized how the new crackdown was just another roadblock for her and other business owners in New York.
“It was great. Grab a cocktail, some chips, no problem,” Muldoon said. “Sometimes people don’t want popcorn or chips or a slice of pizza.”
“We have one lady who comes in who has high food allergies,” the businesswoman noted. “She never eats out, but has a couple glasses of wine and it’s a little freedom, and now we have to tell her she has to order food. So she walks out our doors. Every customer counts right now.”
People like Cuomo don’t care about everyday people. Instead, they act just like the elite in North Korea, China, Venezuela, Cuba. They love totalitarian rule, they hate individual freedom and THEY HAVE NO BUSINESS RUNNING OUR CITIES, OUR STATES, OUR NATION.
Full disclosure: I don’t go out drinking in bars. I don’t drink in restaurants. For one thing, I’m not going to drive after even one drink. And for another thing, I discovered quite young that when I drink, my mouth starts saying stupid things all by itself. However, I do despise the Nanny politicians.