How and where will we be able to drown our sorrows away when we can't even buy a drink?--if (and when) the State Liquor Control Board jacks up the price of alcohol by nearly $1.05 per liter. That equals a 5.6 percent increase, taxing your wallet an additional $2 per 1.75-liter bottle. Jerks. Lawmakers needed to balance the state's budget, and so they took a good chunk of change from the liquor board's piggy bank. Now the board is pressured to tax the hell out of alcohol and re-fill the gaping $79-million hole. If the board approves the increase today, it will take effect August 1, and is expected to raise $77 million over two years. Meanwhile, industry experts shake their finger and caution that if the taxes keep piling on, the hospitality sector could be in for a whirl of economic double-trouble, potentially costing 1,100 jobs and decreased tax revenue.
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Was two weeks ago in this space, Seattlest James took up the cudgel for Gypsy dinners, falling right into the outlaws' trap. No and no, wrong and wrong. These guys aren't romantic Zorros, they're behaving like petulant teenagers. more ›