Sunday alcohol sales in Georgia.

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/26872542/detail.html

For those who don't know: If you live in the state of Georgia, you can't go to the grocery store and buy a case of beer on Sunday. You can (depending on the city/county) go to your local sports bar to get hammered while watching the game, then attempt to drive home.

Republicans in the state house and senate have had a scapegoat in Governor Perdue until last November. Perdue said that any bill that crossed his desk regarding allowing Sunday sales would be vetoed. This allowed Republicans to steer clear of the issue, as it was a moot point, all the while keeping their Christian Coalition and Southern Baptist Convention lobbyists happy.

Our new Governor, Nathan Deal (who is not a drinker,) says (I'm paraphrasing,) bring me a bill that allows the voters in individual counties to decide, and I'll sign it.

The bill, which simply allows for individual communities to VOTE on whether or not to have Sunday sales, flies through the House, and looks like it'll do the same in the Senate. But now suddenly, mysteriously, Senate majority leader Chip Rodgers (whom I really don't want to fall out of love with,) says the bill will go to committee, and that there's a good chance it'll never make it to the Senate floor.

Here's where my blood pressure goes through the roof and my eyes start bulging.

Republicans, particularly this year with the (ugh) 'Tea Party Movement' (vomit) talk their big game about individual liberty, small government, putting more control in the hands of the States and local Governments...until the Baptists who fund their campaigns start making threats.

I wish I could get excited about a real change in the Republican party, especially in my state, but it is, as it always has been, funded, extorted, and run by, a bunch of religious zealots who want to force, at gunpoint, everyone to have the same beliefs and practices that they do.

This was a golden opportunity for Republicans to back up all the E36 M3 they've been talking about small government and individual liberty. Instead, many are showing their asses as the worthless piece of E36 M3 prostitute politicians they are by forsaking their platforms to make sure they've taken care of their TRUE number one priority: GET RE-ELECTED.

It's put-up or shut-up time Republican scumbags. Vote for individual and economic liberty, or hell, vote to ban alcohol. While you're at it, why not vote to close every businesses in the state of Georgia on Sunday? That E36 M3's in the 10 commandments, right?

I'm paying special attention to this one, and if you live in the state of Georgia and truly believe in individual and economic liberty, I hope you will too. Contact your state Senator. If you don't know who your state Senator is, click the link and enter your zip code (you'll need the full 9 digits.)

http://www.capwiz.com/humanevents/callalert/index.tt?alertid=28095501&type=ST

PS: This is why I'll continue to vote Libertarian in state and local elections every chance I get.

You can buy it conveniently at the food store where you get the rest of your food and beverages? Must be nice.

You really are a man after my own heart. We have to deal with the same E36 M3 in Indiana. Here it's the bars and restaurants that are lobbying to keep liquor stores closed on Sundays, not that the religious zealots don't have anything to do with it. We actually had to postpone our Valentine's day breakfast, because we couldn't buy any Grand Marnier on Sunday. berkeleying retarded.

TL;DR

I posted about this back in November. We were in ATL for our connecting flight to Nassau. And I wasn't able to have a beverage with our early lunch, 11am.

JESUS DIED FOR MY BEER!!!!! NOW I WANT IT! berkeleying religious people, just let us have our beer!

poopshovel wrote: PS: This is why I'll continue to vote Libertarian in state and local elections every chance I get.

Ha! And I thought I was the only one voting a straight Libertarian ticket every time!

Thanks for the info, I think I'll make a phone call right now.

slefain wrote:

poopshovel wrote: PS: This is why I'll continue to vote Libertarian in state and local elections every chance I get.

Ha! And I thought I was the only one voting a straight Libertarian ticket every time! Thanks for the info, I think I'll make a phone call right now.

Oh no, Brian, you're not alone! I do the same thing, too.

This is another example of politicians that exalt "purity" but cave-in to outside, agenda-driven extremists. May a virulent pox befall all those who are exposed as hypocrites.......

Stock up on Saturday night.

I just made the phone call. I told the Senator that as the victim of a drunk driver I was actually for the referendum. I would rather have people get drunk at home than have to go to a bar then TRY to drive home. She said she'd had a few phone calls saying the same thing already.

914Driver wrote: Stock up on Saturday night.

That's called "getting your Sunday beer" and is a term my neighbor and I use often. "Hey Todd, you got your Sunday beer? Just check'n..."

So.... Having the possibility of selling Alcohol on Sundays, which will be taxed, which will help the State Revenue, is absolutely ridiculous to some? Because they have a certain belief? I have my own damn beliefs and I want to have the possibility of buying some beer on Sunday so I can have a beer or 2 while I work on my car in the garage. I dont want to have to worry about buying "Sunday Beer" the day before. I know for damn sure, if it were to pass, Forsyth County will not pass it. By far, some of the worst churchy people i have ever seen!

Isn’t this almost entirely symbolic???

Unless you live paycheck to paycheck or have horrible planning skills, can’t you just stock up beforehand?

I happen to be an exception though as I fly a lot to Minnesota and it’s always on a Sunday when they have the 3/2 restriction which, if you aren’t familiar, is where only beer can be sold and it’s a special mix where you need to drink 3 to get the effect of 2.

Side note…I always stop at Super Target first thing when I’m in Minnesota to buy: three rolls of duct tape, three cans of baby powder, & three sets of dice as I use them as props to teach math. The cashiers always give me a somewhat weird look until I produce my California Driver’s License where they really look at me funny.

Anyway, I find this 3/2 thing amusing as right across the boarder in Wisconsin, you’ll promptly be issued a hefty fine if you’re caught not drinking.

Senator Miller, who they mentioned, is my senator. I had already written him about the issue a couple of weeks ago. It was his committee that passed the bill on, before the Majority Leader apparently decided that he knows best. Here is my letter from today:

Dear Senator Miller, While I was happy to see that the effort to let local communities decide on Sunday alcohol sale was successfully passed out of your committee, I am very disappointed to read that Senator Rogers is bowing to a vocal minority and threatening to even allow a vote on the bill. Despite widespread support for the bill, it is being threatened by political gamesmanship. Republicans already have to fight hard for my vote versus Libertarians. This does not help your cause in that struggle. If Republicans want to continue to claim to be the party of individual liberty and smaller government, perhaps they should act the part occasionally. Feel free to pass my concerns along to Senator Rogers or others as you see fit. Disappointed, Dave Hardy

RX Reven' wrote: Isn’t this almost entirely symbolic??? Unless you live paycheck to paycheck or have horrible planning skills, can’t you just stock up beforehand?

We have 3.2% beer here as well that you can buy on Sunday's, but not the good stuff.

Liqour stores not being open on Sunday doesn't bother me, because, being reasonably intelligent adults, we can stock up.

And from what I understand, at least here, most of the liquor stores are against it. You'd have probably the same sales but now spread out over 7 days of employee salaries instead of 6.

But when you're in a new place and discover you cna't get a drink at a restaurant, that's weak. Heck even in OK, I can walk into a restaurant in the morning and order something with my brunch.

But what about Supermarkets? I dont really need to go into a Liquor store to buy my beer, the supermarket carries it... They are open just about everyday except for Xmas...

I'll write my Senator too. I may be a Christian fanatic, but I go to a Lutheran church. They are very much in favor of drinking alcohol on Sundays, at least a sip of wine if not more.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: But what about Supermarkets? I dont really need to go into a Liquor store to buy my beer, the supermarket carries it... They are open just about everyday except for Xmas...

This. I am rarely more pissed at my state than @ 5:00 on a Sunday after I have been standing in the sun @ an autocross all day, or out working in the yard, any they deny me a couple of cold brews. berkeleyers.

The irony is that we have people in Georgia who decry governmental intervention that effects them, but then demand that goverment impose their views on everyone else.

BS, and forget irony; hypocrisy is a far better term.

oldsaw wrote: The irony is that we have people in Georgia who decry governmental intervention that effects them, but then demand that goverment impose their views on everyone else. BS, and forget irony; hypocrisy is a far better term.

I am going to buy you a beer.

Wow - I thought it was restrictive the grocery stores in Calif can't sell booze from 2 am to 6 am - guess I should get out more.

In reply to DukeOfUndersteer:

Your offer is accepted, but it has to happen on a Sunday.

It may be mostly academic for people who stock up (heck, I have a kegerator!), but it still seems ridiculous and pointless to have legislation that prevents me from changing my mind about what I want to drink at 3:00 on Sunday... (Of course, here in Oregon our liquor stores got the okay to stay open Sundays a couple of years ago, though we can only get beer and wine at the supermarket)

In reply to oldsaw:

Oh I will. Then we should sit out front of a church and laugh. Well, that might be taking it too far, but still, I will definitely buy you one.

Could be worse in Cullman Al everything is closed on Sundays including Walmart which is a pain in the ass when you realize you really need some berkeleying heat shrink on a Sunday.

RX Reven' wrote: Unless you live paycheck to paycheck or have horrible planning skills, can’t you just stock up beforehand?

I've worked in grocery stores for a little while, and Sunday is usually the busiest day for pantry stuffing trips. If a few hundred bucks is already in the shopping cart, might as well put the week's beer in there as well. This was really common at the rural store that, where a lot of the customers had to travel 45 minutes just to get to the grocery store.