Beer stand owner: Obama visit cost me $25,000

[longnecker]

s

The owner of a famous beer stand at the Iowa State Fair says President Obama's visit last night cost him as much as $25,000.

The Bud Tent, which has been serving fairgoers for 65 years, had to be shut down to the public during the presidential drop-in; patrons had to be screened and scanned before being allowed entry.

"I was in a position to make a campaign donation against my will," said third-generation owner Mike Cunningham II to theDes Moines Register.
Cunningham, it should be noted, is a Republican.
"I wouldn't have voted for (Obama) before," Cunningham said. "I won't again."
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, stoked the flap with a Tweet today: "How does PresO justify havin secret service shut down the bud tent @ the state fair nd the owner told me he loses 50,000 n 1 nite."
Cunningham told the Register the loss was closer to $25,000.
From The Des Moines Register:

On one hand, Cunningham, 39, appreciated the historical significance of Obama's visit: His great-grandfather, Lloyd Cunningham, was secretary of the fair board from 1942 to 1962 and was on hand to greet then-President Dwight Eisenhower when Ike visited the centennial fair in 1954 with Iowa's own President Herbert Hoover in tow. (That was the first of four visits by sitting presidents, followed by Gerald Ford in 1975, George W. Bush in 2002 and Obama on Monday.)
On the other hand, the small business owner side of Cunningham fumes that the president "put a damper on what I'm trying to do here." His Bud Tent was shut down at the most lucrative time of day, with a popular rock cover band, Hairball, about to perform at the Susan B. Knapp Amphitheater next door * with legions of thirsty fans. ...
Cunningham played the gracious host during the president's visit * smiled, posed for photos, raised a beer with Obama, gifted him a "Save Water; Drink Beer" T-shirt.
http://content.usatoday.com/communit...1#.UCqolVaPVqx

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[Jessica]

How long was the beer tent shut down for? $25,000 is a hell of a lot of cash to lose for a "drop-in." Was the t-shirt he gave Obama made of gold and factored into the cost?

Look, the dude is the President. Like him or not, his protection is a priority for the country. Was Mr. Cunningham surprised by the visit? Was he asked in advance? Could he have refused? If the answer to those questions is "yes," which I can't imagine it wouldn't be, then I'm having a hard time finding sympathy for an inconvenience that he willingly participated.

If this is news that people are going to be outraged by, then each and every time a candidate stops by any business at any time during the election, let's all be equally outraged.

[max1]

Yea, we should be outraged about the unemployment rate among other things.

[max1]

I think the picture that goes along with the story is a good look at the real barry obama

[Kid Lester]

[Panama Girl]

I'm sorry, all I see is "Waah, waah, I didn't make enough out of the free publicity, waah."

[max1]

It does represent the last 4 years of this administration. Ah but this is typical obama

[max1]

But this is typical of obama, hindering more then helping. People (business owners) are afraid of whats next. Over regulation on the part of this administration, has business owners afraid to hire or expand they are afraid of the new TAX that's called "obama care" although they can get around that since there is no penalty for "part time" workers. Anyway this time the election is about how poorly the country has been run and the dis-like for this failure of a President, it aint about Bush this time, and all I can say is if Obama is elected again I suspect it will be the end to this silly extreme liberilism stuff.

[max1]

I'm sorry, all I see is "Waah, waah, I didn't make enough out of the free publicity, waah."

For some folks this is the biggest time of the year for them to make money, it could be a corn harvest or the waterman who makes all his money in the summer months. This could be make or break for this guy we just dont know.

[childOfLacroix]

I'll have to [partially] side with Jessica on this one. I find it difficult to believe this guy couldn't have refused to host the visit. If nothing else, he could have simply shut down the tent in protest until Obummer left. Were I backed into a corner, that's what I would have done. I would not have smiled at, posed for pictures with, and handed a tee-shirt to someone who just stole 25 grand from me. I wouldn't do those things for someone I can't stand, period, regardless of who they were. "Historical significance" means absolutely nothing to me. Holding fast to my most deeply rooted convictions would be the only important thing. I would have shut the tent down even if I felt that Obummer would make money for me. I will not sell my soul to Satan for 30 pieces of silver, and by hosting a statist of any stripe, I would have done just that.

[max1]

I hear ya, I would like to know if he had the chance to make that decision. I highly doubt that he would have too much advance info considering the presidents safety is the most important thing here and the secret service wants to be in control of ANYTHING regarding safety. He is a businessman though and if he was smart he would not take any side in politics, imange standing up and saying what he really thinks about obama, right off the bat a whole lot of people aint coming to your tent, and you lose even more money. Na I'm pretty sure hes smart enough to know if he hadn't agreed his business would have still been affected.

[max1]

I remember my son told me that when Bush visited the AFB he was at all the windows were closed and shades pulled in any barracks that faced the flight line. They were not even told of this until the morning of the visit, and he was a cop.

[childOfLacroix]

I hear ya, I would like to know if he had the chance to make that decision. I highly doubt that he would have too much advance info considering the presidents safety is the most important thing here and the secret service wants to be in control of ANYTHING regarding safety. He is a businessman though and if he was smart he would not take any side in politics, imange standing up and saying what he really thinks about obama, right off the bat a whole lot of people aint coming to your tent, and you lose even more money. Na I'm pretty sure hes smart enough to know if he hadn't agreed his business would have still been affected.

Then he could have shut it down as soon as Obummer came to the door. Just shut it down. Immediately. It's one thing to refrain from mentioning political beliefs when one does not have to, when it is not necessary. It's quite another when you are backed into a corner, with no escape, and given the CHOICE to either fight your attacker or beg for their mercy at the expense of everything you believe in. If he had any integrity, any honor at all, he would have held onto his beliefs, shut the damned stand down and bore any resulting consequences, so that his honor and integrity remained intact.

No monetary value can be placed on integrity and honor. If he stood to lose the money either way, choosing to bow down makes it even worse. He lost not only the money, but any integrity or honor he ever had.

I would never have welcomed Obummer (or Romney) into my place of business and took smiling pictures with them. I would have shut down and borne the consequences, even if it meant my own financial destruction. We cannot take our money to our graves, but we all take our integrity and honor. They could take my money...but they will never get my obedience.

[max1]

I guess there are people out there who think differently then that. I can tell you for one, when it comes to feeding my family there is not to much I wont do you cant eat honor or integrity.

:-)

[Grin]

My parents taught me that honor,dignity,respect, and craftsmanship were always more important than money. Take care of those things and the money will take care of itself.

[childOfLacroix]

What disgusts me most about the whole story is that I am convinced it was purposefully set up to inflame the populace, to convince the Right that the Left is out to destroy their livelihoods. The fact that the Left were likely the ones who set it up is not at all illogical; both sides are seeking to shatter this country and plunge it into a second Civil War, and it will not be the politicians or their children who fight and die in that war. They'll all be holed up in bunkers.

Why do I think this? Because presidential visits to various locales are part and parcel of campaign season. In addition to finding it difficult to believe that this guy had no choice but to host this event, I also find it very difficult to believe that (1) no venue has ever been locked down during such a visit before and (2) Obummer (as much as I can't stand him) decided to purposefully target this guy with the intent of making him lose money. To me, the second one is comparable to mentally ill homeless people railing about how the president and the CIA are out to kill them personally.

One more thing I feel the need to comment on: businesses are not refusing to hire and expand due to "uncertainty." They are not hiring or expanding due to lack of demand. Businesses that are weathering the economic collapse, for whom there is continued demand for their products and services, are hiring and expanding. PetSmart is one of those. I know, because I read their Annual Report for my finance class. They did mention ObamaCare, very briefly; to them, it isn't an enormous issue. They said so. The company's number one concern was the emergence of competitors in the pet market, and the fact that they have maxed out their profits on luxe goods; that's why they're moving into services, which they haven't maximized yet. Despite ObamaCare, etc., they continue to expand because there is demand for their products, and demand for services (veterinary, grooming, etc.) is increasing in particular. They aren't waiting to see who wins the election to move forward. They're just doing it.

There is ALWAYS uncertainty in business; there is no perfect world. If you think it's uncertain now, what do you think it was like during WWII, or even the Vietnam War? Even when things are stable at home, we cannot control what happens abroad. Problems in European markets and wars between far-flung nations affect the world economy, which we are all part of, and we cannot control these things. Successful businesses are the ones that plow on and maintain despite uncertainty, instead of using it as an excuse because it sounds better than, "I have no idea how to run a business and I really shouldn't be in charge of one."

But I know the average American doesn't believe any of this. They are convinced that whoever is president controls the economy, that uncertainty can somehow be erased, and that things like ObamaCare are as big an issue to the average business as it is to them. This is illustrative of the divide between what businesses really think and what average Americans think they think.

More people should go read Annual Reports for public companies. They are available for free download under "Investor Relations" on every public company's website. You can go read exactly what public companies think about ObamaCare, minimum wage laws and a host of other issues. It is quite enlightening; it was for me. I was, at first, very surprised that PetSmart wasn't freaking out over ObamaCare, but then it made sense to me once I realized that I was looking at the issue from an individual's POV, not through the POV of a large (and successful) organization.

Businesses aren't anywhere near as divided on the issues as individuals.

[Grin]

Well I believe it COL, Lack of demand is the reason businesses don't expand.