Clearing The Air

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Michigan bar owners plan to withold tax payments to protest smoking ban

Gee, I thought smoking bans were good for business? Isn't that what the Nicoderm funded activists told all of us?

Pam Lezotte, owner of Buster's Place in Trenton, says people used to wait in line to enter her bar on Friday nights. But since Michigan's smoking ban took effect, she claims the place is often empty by eight.

As a result, she's having trouble paying her bills and is willing to take a bold step to get the attention of Michigan legislators who approved the state's workplace smoking ban, which took effect in May.

"What we're going to do is we want to take our taxes and put them in an escrow and say, hey, Lansing, it's time you guys step up and see what you're doing to this state and all the little business owners," Lezotte told Fox 2 on Tuesday. "They're folding every day. Every time I talk to a new bar owner, they're telling me … I'm on the edge. I'm on the edge of putting my bar on the market or I'm ready to walk away from it."

More here:

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/03/bar_owners_plot_tax_protest_in.html