First It Was the State's Two Horse Racing Tracks, Now It's The Bars That Might Be Affected Due to Budget Gridlock -- Restaurants May Have To Sell $2 Soda Instead of $10 Wine

Now it's getting really serious.

First it was the big concern that the state's two horse racing tracks would be closed when the state government shut down to the budget impasse, and now it's the bars that might be affected.

Even bars and restaurants could start feeling the pain as state-issued cards that allow them to buy liquor begin to expire.

Across the state, some bars are facing the prospect of losing their lifeblood, alcohol.
The Liberty Restaurant and Bar in St. Michael, for example, might have to shut its doors when its supply of booze dries up at the end of the week.

"I have two options," said Norm Freske, the bar's general manager. "One, I can continue to serve food, obviously with no alcohol. Or we shut down."

The St. Paul Hotel stocked up on beer, wine and liquor before the shutdown. The hotel can't buy more, but general manager David Miller said it can hold out at least a month. "It's annoying more than anything," Miller said.

Restaurants could see profits drop if they have to substitute $2 glasses of soda for $10 glasses of wine.

When one reads the linked article, one gets the sense that there is no sense of urgency. I do not follow Minnesota politics, so I have no understanding of the personalities involved, but something tells me the guy in charge is not playing with a full deck.

"I feel like [Governor] Dayton has gone out of the way to mislead people about his compromise attitude," Pakieser said. He said a video is circulating on YouTube of Dayton imploring lawmakers in February to join him in pledging not to shut down the government, yet Dayton vetoed all major state agency funding bills Republicans passed at the end of the session.

"It just looks to me like he wanted to force a shutdown. ... He chose to spread maximum pain throughout the state government," Pakieser said.

It appears to me the state may end up deeper in debt after the shutdown than before.