Too little too late: Gov. Tom Wolf is asking the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) to help un-wreck the wreck that he created with his arbitrary and capricious lockdown of, then continuing occupancy restrictions on, Keystone State restaurants.
He’s asked the PLCB to waive 2021 liquor licensing fee (though some observers say it would take an act of the Legislature to do so).
Whoop-de-do. And BYOB establishments? Sorry, there’s nothing for you here.
As more than few restaurateurs have noted, the projected $700 to $1,500 savings per establishment is a drop in the bucket to the losses the industry has sustained. It will do little to nothing to reverse the slide of many into bankruptcy. Many restaurants already have closed, never to reopen. Many more will follow.
Given the paucity of evidence that restaurants were or would be any kind of super-spreading centers, it’s a slap in the face to restaurateurs who, seeing to their respective business’ best self-interest, most assuredly would practice mitigation efforts on their own.
Turkey tyranny: Of course, government imposing restrictions on public business is one thing, government imposing coronavirus pandemic-related restrictions on one’s castle is quite another.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has banned home indoor Thanksgiving gatherings and outdoor gatherings of no more than three households.
Yes, you read that right. And that’s just the crazy beginning.
As Elle Reynolds writes in The Federalist:
“Not only is California limiting the number of households that can come for Thanksgiving, the state also requires hosts to write down the names of all attendees for contact tracing.
“For families who want to celebrate the holidays with both sets of in-laws, ‘participating in multiple gatherings with different households or groups is strongly discouraged.’
“In addition to limiting how much of your family can gather, California is mandating that all gatherings happen outside. That means families can’t congregate in the kitchen to cook together, serve food in the kitchen or sit around the dining room table.
“Family members can leave your backyard and enter your house to use the restroom, but only if the restroom is ‘frequently sanitized.’”
But wait, there’s more:
Members of different households must maintain at least six feet of distance between themselves outside, including when they sit down for dinner. Food or beverages must be in single-serve containers “as much as possible.” Thanksgiving gatherings can’t last more than two hours.
Oh, and when it comes to Christmas gatherings this year in California, well …
“Finally, don’t count on singing Christmas carols at any holiday parties this year,” Reynolds notes. “Singing is ‘strongly discouraged.’ If you do sing, you must wear a face mask the entire time. Further, you’re ‘strongly encouraged’ to sing quietly” and stand far apart from everyone else.
That might work for “Silent Night” but it sure will put a crimp in “Up on the Housetop.” Click! Click! Click! and Ho! Ho! Ho! and all that.
And “local health jurisdictions” have been given permission to enforce even stricter at- and in-home restrictions. What that tacit threat means is unclear.
Oh, and as Newsweek reports:
“Musicians are allowed at gatherings but they must be from one of the three households. The playing of any wind instruments (those that are played by the mouth, such as a trumpet or clarinet) is ‘strongly discouraged.’”
As The Federalist’s Reynolds concludes, “Some of Newsom’s rules might be fine as recommendations or suggestions.”
And it might even “be wise for certain families with at-risk members to follow some of these precautions this year,” she adds.
“But that should be a decision left to individual families — not mandated by the state.”
Should it come to pass that California officials spread out over The Golden State on Thanksgiving Day to enforce its turkey tyranny, our grand nation will be left with liberty’s rotting leftovers.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
