Tishomingo Co. Voting On Alcohol (weddings, rapes, counties)

[HipLib]

Originally Posted by lkstiles

alchol brings crime.... yes people can get it anywhere, but when it's more easily to get your hands on children go unfed, bills go unpaid, and crime increases... crime and death will increase!

I live next door in Alabama. Fayette county is dry but is THE most corrupt county in the state. Just a few years ago the sheriff was convicted of bootlegging on a grand scale. Basically providing most of the liquor in the county. He served a little time in prison, ran for sheriff again and got REELECTED! He's out of office now and the new sheriff is trying to clean up his mess. During the time this man was sheriff Fayette became the methampheptemine capital of Alabama. The new sheriff is trying hard but meth is still rampant. Almost all the honest people have to drive 40 miles or so south to wet Tuscaloosa or west to wet Columbus to work. Fayette has lost all the industry it once had. What business wants to locate in a place where the big wheels can't even have a drink after work?

[IUKAMSNICK]

just thought i would let everyone know that some how the petition that was passed around town to get the voting started has just up and vanished. it's always amazing that when something trys to happen here that might get into someones pockets here it gets lost or the dog ate it. oh well maybe it wasn't a good idea but atleast someone was trying to do something for this town. thanks for all your replies. nick

[oldenfatt]

I agree with the feeling that I don't want my use of a legal product curtailed by politicians pandering for publicity by jumping on the nicotine-nazi bandwagon, but even I don't smoke close to my own children. Non-smoking areas of open restaurants and bars are a joke- they really are like the non-peeing section in a pool. The idea of dry counties keeping alcohol out are also a joke.

I am not in Tishomingo county, but I am close enough to have to worry about your citizenry imbibing near my home and then hitting the same highways used by my friends and family. Thanks for the tax money, but please stop polishing your halo long enough to consider keeping your people at home.

[misconduckt]

It is absurd to think that no one will drink if it isnt available...everyone goes to the line, TN or AL for their beverage of choice and everyone knows it...keeping this country dry is just another way to stay out of the 21st century..this place hasnt changed since I have been on earth..52 years and I dont see it changing ever unless the churches quit running the joint

[Inkedchic]

I have read a lot of posts on here bashing the "Sheriff" that went to jail, not for bootlegging but for taking kick backs from the bootleggers... no one has once mentioned the "sheriff" who vowed after Norris to "clean" up the town and went down for protecting the drug dealers... Now THAT is what is trying to be cleaned up... I would rather have a sheriff that promoted alcohol than one who allowed meth labs to run rampant!!!

[Joe345]

Tishomingo County ........Wet or Dry?
Something the voters will decide Tuesday. There's a lot of information and arguments for voting yes and for voting no. Some of the arguments and information that you will hear is repeated from others, but no source for the information is provided which leaves many people wondering .......is this information correct and true? It's pretty easy to research some of this information to find out if it is correct and true. Below are some examples of what we hear and some factual information with actual references to data obtained from goverment statistics. Check out the web sites shown to validate the information.
1. We are losing the tax money to other counties - Yes there is some tax money going to other counties when alcohol is purchased in those counties, but what is the real financial impact on a county if it is wet or dry? Do we really have more money if our costs also increase? How do the costs and tax revenues for alcohol compare? Many States are trying to raise the tax on alcohol because their budgets show the costs associated with alcohol far outweigh the income received in alcohol tax revenue. (Minnesota's alcohol costs are 17 times higher that the alcohol tax revenue collected)FACTS Coalition - why increase the alcohol tax
The State of Alaska attempts to raise tax on alcohol." Alaska collects 12.1 million in alcohol tax but the costs to the state is over 250 million for police, courts, jails, hospitals, medical care, domestic violence and deaths resulting from alcohol abuse." http://www.akrepublicans.org/pastleg...i104032002.pdf
Do you really want to vote for something that costs much more than it pays?
2. We need the tax money to help schools and attract jobs - the paragraph above demonstrates that alcohol is a financial burden instead of an economic benefit. This is why states keep trying to raise the taxes on alcohol. What about schools and growth? Is it better in wet counties? Arkansas has studied this extensively. The 8th grade students were tested in wet and dry counties." Those in wet counties were 45.7% more likely to score below basic in math and 59.2% more likely to score below basic in literacy/reading than a student in a dry county". Government census data showed the average population growth in the dry counties was 245% higher than wet counties. Also average household income was 6.5% higher in dry counties and life expectancy is longer. Which is better, wet or dry? - ARKANSAS FAMILY COALITION
Do you really want to vote for something that will hurt our schools and students, hurt the growth of our county, reduce the average household income of our residents and shorten our lives?
3. People are already drinking alcohol in the county- yes some people do, but if it is made legal the consumption will increase, crime will increase, social problems (teen pregnancy, birth defects, divorce, child abuse) will increase, tax rates will increase. The Arkansas study showed major crime rates 59 to 299% higher and more social problems in wet counties. Which is better, wet or dry? - ARKANSAS FAMILY COALITION
Do you really want to vote for something that will increase our crime rate, cause more social problems and raise our taxes? The logic that we should legalize alcohol because it is already here is a flawed logic. If we followed this logic, we would also legalize drugs since they are also present. This would only give us more drug addicts and more of the crime and social problems listed above.
4. If we had alcohol we would have more businesses and more jobs- Do we really believe that employers are happy when their workers are late or absent from work because of alcohol, and its social problems? Do you think the employers would be happy with more theft of property and other crimes? Why did Arkansas see more growth, higher incomes and longer life expectancy in dry counties? If you were looking to start up a new factory and had the option to put it in a dry county or wet county which one would you choose?
Do you really want to vote for something that would discourage employers from locating here?
5. Selling it locally would cut down on drinking and driving- This argument seems to suggest that people in Tishomingo County would be less likely to drive while drinking if they did not have to go to a wet county to get alcohol and therefore the DUI/DWI risk would be less. If this logic is correct - what about the dry counties surrounding us? If Tishomingo County goes wet, wouldn't we be at greater risk for people from those dry counties driving into our county to get alcohol? Franklin? Itawamba? Prentiss?
Our federal government recently passed a health care program and one of the members of congress said "we will have to pass it to find out what is in it". We don't have to vote in alcohol to find out what will happen. We can simply look at how it is working in other areas. The evidence has shown that dry is much better than wet.

[Joe345]

There is no economic benefit to alcohol. It's easy to check this out by looking at state budgets. They show alcohol problems cost 17 times as much as the revenue from the tax collected. So who pays the cost? We all do. If alcohol was taxed to pay for the problems it creates, no one could afford to buy it. More alcohol means more problems which means more taxes for everyone to pay. For all you people who think we should legalize, would you also for to legalize drugs? We could get tax money from them as well.

[An Einnseanair]

Are you one of those Liberals who wants the government meddling in everyone's affairs? Are you pro Obamacare? Pro gun control?

If the answer to all of those questions is "no" (or even better, "HAYEL NO!!"), why would you choose to allow the government to tell you what your neighbors can and cannot consume?

Originally Posted by Joe345

There is no economic benefit to alcohol. It's easy to check this out by looking at state budgets. They show alcohol problems cost 17 times as much as the revenue from the tax collected. So who pays the cost? We all do. If alcohol was taxed to pay for the problems it creates, no one could afford to buy it. More alcohol means more problems which means more taxes for everyone to pay. For all you people who think we should legalize, would you also for to legalize drugs? We could get tax money from them as well.

Alcohol control is like gun control. If you eliminate it in one place, people will just go next door to buy without any reduction in usage. The only way to get rid of it would be a total prohibition, and we all know how that little experiment turned out for alcohol. The drug experiment (i.e., the war on drugs) is still running, but the conclusions were reached decades ago with thousands of dead and billions of dollars lost.

So yes, I would also be in favor of ending the ridiculous war on drugs. I still wouldn't consume drugs, however, as my employer and almost all our clients have a very strict no-drugs policy (some are even located out west where drug laws are more lax).

[Okie7597]

Originally Posted by jwkilgore

Are you one of those Liberals who wants the government meddling in everyone's affairs? Are you pro Obamacare? Pro gun control?

If the answer to all of those questions is "no" (or even better, "HAYEL NO!!"), why would you choose to allow the government to tell you what your neighbors can and cannot consume?

Notice that "Joe" has only posted TWICE on City-Data. Methinks he came in here with an agenda ; it failed, since voters approved Tishomingo County going wet. Some people just have to be DRAGGED into the 21st century, lol.

[John Ryder]

Originally Posted by lkstiles

alchol brings crime.... yes people can get it anywhere, but when it's more easily to get your hands on children go unfed, bills go unpaid, and crime increases... crime and death will increase!

yes so they just drive longer to get alcohol and then drive longer drunk coming back from a bar thats 40 miles away, the most extensive studies have been in Texas, http://www.swacj.org/swjcj/archives/...20to%20Wet.pdf

and not having booze or having booze doesnt really effect the crime rate, and now people go unfed because now they have to spend an extra 20 bucks on gas just to travel to get spirits, hows that feeding a child now!!!