House of Eratosthenes

Restaurants are reeling from their worst three months since 2010, as American diners spooked by higher payroll taxes cut back on eating out.

Sales at casual-dining establishments fell 5.4 percent last month, after declining 0.6 percent in January and 1.6 percent in December, according to the Knapp-Track Index of monthly restaurant sales. This was the first three months of consecutive declines in almost three years, with consumers caught in a “very emotional moment,” said Malcolm Knapp, a New York-based consultant who created the index and has monitored the industry since 1970.

“February was pretty ugly” for many chains — and probably will be the worst month of the year — after January delivered an “initial blow” while Americans grappled with increased payroll taxes and health-care premiums, rising gasoline prices and budget debates in Washington, Knapp said.
:
U.S. paychecks have shrunk this year after Congress and President Barack Obama let the tax that funds Social Security benefits revert to 6.2 percent from 4.2 percent. Meanwhile, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded has risen about 12 percent since Dec. 31, to $3.69 (3AGSREG), including a one-week jump of 17 cents between Jan. 27 and Feb. 3, based on data from Heathrow, Florida-based AAA, the largest U.S. motoring organization.

“That one-week spike was a killer; it destroyed sales in the first week of February,” Knapp said.

Wow. And yet the liberals will continue to argue we need to raise taxes so the economy can get moar-better or something…are we still in the period where this stuff is blamed on George W. Bush? For many of them, we probably are.

I don’t see how they can persist in denying things like this. I suppose the restaurant industry is something that lives and dies according to the discretionary parts of our budgets; the missus and I probably haven’t been eating out as much as usual since the year started, either. So maybe liberals just don’t understand the concept? They think everything is like gasoline, where you pay whatever it is whether you like it or not?

In truth, though — nothing is really that way. Not even the gas. Just the taxes.

In truth, though — nothing is really that way. Not even the gas. Just the taxes.

Which is why liberals are so in love with the VAT (have they started beating the drum about that again yet? They will, and soon). In some ways, shopping in Europe is awesome, especially eating out — there’s the bill, with the price, and you pay it. No haggling, no tipping.

But, of course, you never see the breakdown — what part of the price comes from the good itself, and what comes from taxes. Even the Continental sheeple would shit a brick if they saw that $8 of a $20 transaction is taxes.

I used to live near one of those cities-within-a-city deals that seemingly all American metros have. I’d find myself actually stepping out of line at a fast food place and walking across the street — they guy in front of me would order a Big Mac or whatever, and I’d see that the sales tax in Hipsterburgh had jumped yet again, while over in Proleville they were still way too goddamn high, but reasonable. The VAT eliminates all that.
- Severian | 03/23/2013 @ 08:52
Not even the taxes. The underground economy is doing a lot better then the official one at this time, but how would we know?
- Robert Mitchell Jr. | 03/23/2013 @ 09:40
I wonder if those nice folks traditionally in the “service” industry have a revised view of Democrat/Socialist/”academic” economics claims of “Trickle-down economics don’t work!”, Single mothers hardest hit…

Too bad there’s now less of a “market” for those not quite stupid/poor enough for “free” gub’mint money to pay for a Humanities certificate of participation, to garner the (who wrote that anyway?) 15% tip to fill out an order form, carry the “product” from the “manufacturing” area, and “process” those “credit” cards. Even the whole “shift meal” (and sometimes ONE adult beverage) bennie/”perk” is out the window too.

That “French Style” 28 hour a week job just isn’t gonna’ cut it anymore without
“free” gub’mint cheese*.

More food stamps…and more free “education” that boosts ones earnings “potential”?
“Free” housing “projects”, you know, kinda’ like “Community” dorm living”?
Cuz’ that commune thing works out soooooo well with folks not used to actually working all the time.
Add yet another Trillion (US$ 1,000,000,000,000) in taxes on whoever’s left. THAT ought to “cover” it.
Let them eat cake.

* I claim a triple snark referance to;
(Socialist) Bread lacking, wine swillin’, cheese-eatin’, surrender-monkey, “labor” laws
“Who stole/moved my cheese?” Ilene Hochberg/Spencer Johnson, respectively
USDA/WIC/HHS free “surplus” American cheese product distribution program

The inevitable Bloombergatory-
“Our…um…school children (of any age) MUST be fed (ketsup is a vegetable, the institutional pink slime it goes on is suddenly “bad”) for “free”, and our poor families are obese.”
– is merely extra credit on this test.
- CaptDMO | 03/23/2013 @ 10:35

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Restaurants Take a BeatingSaturday, March 23rd, 2013

Restaurants Take a Beating
Saturday, March 23rd, 2013