Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog

At the same time that the federal government is making a dumb move here in Massachusetts Gov Patrick, (David Axelrod’s dry run for President Obama) is doing it as well on a smaller scale:

The good news is that Deval Patrick has been declared “America’s Best Governor” by the state’s taxpayers and small business owners.

The bad news? That state is New Hampshire.

If you own a convenience store, restaurant or packie north of Massachusetts, you’ve got to have a man crush on Patrick. Just months after packing your store with Bay State smokers saving $20 a carton on cigs, Patrick wants higher state taxes on beer, booze, candy bars and soda, too. Not to mention meals and hotel rooms.

Now Massachusetts is a small state physically. No part of it is more than 40 min from the border of another state, and no part of it is more than 90 minutes from New Hampshire.

But lets say you don’t smoke or drink very little as I do. I’m not likely to take a 20 min drive to save 4 bucks on a fill-up. So instead lets make a day of it:

After Mass we’ll stop at Parker’s Maple Barn (they re-open Feb 11th) and have a big breakfast, maybe pick up a Yankee Candle or a hat at the shop there. Once done we can hit a mall and the wife can do some shopping. My boys are into Comics, games and Doctor Who. There are some really good hobby shops in Nashua, we can catch a movie once we are done or in warmer weather play some mini golf and perhaps we’ll even hit a restaurant before filling up the tank and heading home.

Now instead of just the gas station , coffee shop, the local mall, comic store, movie theater and maybe the restaurant have all lost my business. Multiply this by hundreds and it adds up.

Well they never learn?