Casino owners still bitchin’ about the smoking ban

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And now they have a whiney ass legislator on their side;

“People aren’t coming and that’s just a fact of life. We’ve noticed it almost immediately in the middle of November when the smoking ban started,” Republican Senator Tom Nelson of Lead said.

Good. Gambling is a poor way to fund government anyway, and maybe we will be killing two birds with one stone.

Video lottery revenues in the state have fallen off nearly 20 percent since the ban passed. And, just in November officials say the casinos in Deadwood saw a $10 million drop in revenues, attributing the fall completely to the smoking ban.

Why not raise the state’s take? I have often said that if a majority of South Dakotans think gambling is okay, we should increase the state’s take to 70-80%. It has often amazed me that all of these legislators have come up with 9 million different ways to nickel and dime citizens in user fees but not one single one of them has suggested taking more from gambling.

“It’s not the economy. It’s not the weather. It’s not the holidays. We’re comparing Novembers to Novembers to Novembers,” Nelson said.

Yeah, Tom, because the economy has been just peachy. Video lottery revenue has been down all year, even before the ban. It is the economy, stupid.

“We don’t need a complete lift of the smoking ban. We just need some accommodations so customers have a place to go where they can continue to play their machines or be at the card table,” Nelson said.

Oh, so because they have card tables, they deserve to have smoking? But if you are some dive bar with VL machines you have to keep the ban? Silly. The ban should remain, for ALL establishments. The citizens voted in an overwhelming majority that they wanted this to happen. We have a clear mandate. Besides, this is not about patrons, it’s about workers. How many times do we have to go over this?

Will the legislature try to amend this? Probably. Just like abortion, there are a few knuckle heads in the legislature who think they know better then the majority of South Dakota voters. But remember this, these are the same guys who don’t pay property taxes, molest foster kids, launder money and run stop signs resulting in killing someone.

I DARE the legislature to challenge the will of the people.

What smoking ban?

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The Argus Endorser just put out a story today about the virtual ‘non-compliance’ of the smoking ban. Which is no surprise. This state makes a habit of passing laws that they don’t bother enforcing or for that matter charging a proper fine for a violation.

What was not brought up in the article was that fact that Tim Kant’s establishments (STOGEEZ and EASTWALD Smoke Shop) and a Rapid City Cigar Bar are still allowed smoking as long as they follow three requirements;

1) Must have a humidor on site

2) Only can allow cigar smoke

3) 10% of the sales must be from cigars

Seems fair, right? Well the first one will be easy, but the last two will be virtually impossible to enforce. Why? Because the business is supposed to ‘self-audit’ themselves. LMAO!

You can’t tell me on a summer night when Stogeez patio is packed that for every $90 in beer he sells he is sell $10 in cigars. Yeah right.

Now the STATE can do a random audit of his place to make sure his books are in order but the chances of that happening are next to nil unless they see some blatant discrepencies in his returns. Seems NO RULES Kant got away with another one.

These people are smoking more then cigarettes

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I always get a kick out of anti-smoking ban people. They have the ‘sky is falling’ mentality;

“I have letters from businesses in Kansas that I’ve been compiling. They are down 30 to 80 percent. They have already been laying off people. They’re cutting hours,” Kansas bar owner Sheila Martin said.

First off, I actually think restaurant business will go up. Bar business will drop a bit and then return. People will get over it. I’m actually considering a ‘First day of the smoking ban’ party in one of the smokiest bars I know.