Local referendums on Sunday retail sales of alcohol were on the ballots in Georgia. Georgia law passed last year leaves it up to local municipalities, so each area was deciding its own policy.
With maybe one or two exceptions, voters by a margin of at least 2:1 approved Sunday alcohol sales. In my area, Sandy Springs, it was 85% to 15%. I had no personal investment in this. Rarely have I felt deprived because I couldn't buy a bottle of wine in the grocery store on Sunday.
But I object to the reasoning of those who support the blue laws: "It's the Lord's day." Or: "If you can't get by without drinking one day a week, you've got serious problems."
Here's what I say in response: "If you disapprove of selling alcohol on Sunday, then don't sell alcohol on Sunday; don't buy alcohol on Sunday."
Just as in the past I have taken the position: "If you 'don't believe in gay marriage,' then don't marry a gay person."
Nobody's forcing you to do either. Don't tell me I can't, though.
Ralph
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Another good sign that things are changing: a growing number of House Republicans want out of the Grover Norquist pledge that they signed never to raise taxes.
ReplyDeleteCan this mean anything other than that they know the voters will hold them responsible for no progress on either the jobs problem or the deficit?
It turns out that the count was inaccurate in the one town that Sunday sales was defeated. There will be a recount, but it's not thought that every referendum was won by the Sunday sales proponents.
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