Illinois Restaurant Owner Refuses to Close His Business, Slams COVID Relief Bill
“If everybody would open up, they [government] would have to give in. People are scared. People do what they’re told. We’re sheep being led to the slaughter.”
Jeff Buckler, the owner of Lil Buford’s Bar & Grill in Champaign County in Illinois, slammed the $600 COVID-19 relief checks and restrictions that have kept businesses closed in his state.
Buckler has defied the lockdown to keep his employees working so they can pay their bills.
Buckler is concerned the lockdowns will wipe out the middle class.
From Fox News:
“They’re going to starve to death,” he said. “They’re talking about a $600 stimulus check that won’t even pay a month’s rent. People have car payments, utility bills and all that stuff. Food to put on the table for their kids.”
The Lil Buford’s Bar & Grill owner said this limited support is going to drive restaurant workers out of the industry and into more stable, better-paying jobs, or ultimately unemployment. And Buckler added that unemployment funding isn’t enough, either.
“Unemployment as a server – we’ve got one girl – gets $150 over two weeks. How are you supposed to survive on that money?” he asked. “You just can’t.”
Democrat Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker officially placed the 11 regions of the state “in Pase 4 Tier 3, which prohibits indoor service at bars and restaurants while retail businesses can allow customers in at 25 percent capacity.”
On December 17, Buckler filmed Champaign County health inspectors filling out paperwork against him because he had indoor dining in his business:
Buckler refused to sign any paperwork despite receiving a $500 fine every day he stays open:
“COVID rates are down, go to Walmart, go to Target, go to any other shopping mall and it’s packed beyond belief,” Buckler told the county officials. “We’ve got nine people in here.”
Buckler then asked the officials if there were any instances of COVID-19 transmission in his establishment, to which he didn’t get a specific answer.
“How are you shutting me down for something you don’t know anything about?” Buckler said, refusing to sign anything.
“My intent is to fight this tyranny that we’re being stuck with,” he said on the video. “Enjoy your Christmas. I know the employees won’t of all the places you’re shutting down.”
Buckler told local radio station WMAY he has no intention of backing down:
Buckler later told WMAY radio he’s taking a stand despite being fined $500 per day for allowing people inside to eat. He said other establishments in the county are also operating in defiance of the indoor prohibition.
“If everybody would open up, they would have to give in,” Buckler said. “People are scared. People do what they’re told. We’re sheep being led to the slaughter.”
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At least they are more imaginative in frightening the public. War of the Worlds in 1944, Cranberries cause Cancer (1957 or 1958), the swine flu fiasco…
Props, Mr. Buckler. We need more like you.
GO GET’ EM JEF TELL THAT SPITZER CLOWN WHERE TO GET OFF. HE NEVER OPENED A BUSINESS OR TOOK OUT A HOME LOAN TO FINANCE IT. OR GAVE PEOPLE JOBS OR POURED HIS WHOLE LIFE INTO MAKIN IT RUN OR SPENT 100’s of hours a MONTH TO KEEP IT AFLOAT! HERE’S TO YOU SIR!…THE AMERICAN SMALL BUSINESS MAN>> RIGHT UP THERE WITH OUR MILITARY THE BEST MEN THIS GREAT COUNTRY HAS TO OFFER. BLESS YOU MUH MAN….GO FORTH AND CONQUOR…
Down voted for use of ALL CAPS. Hard to read. Recommend you attempt to use the full resources of your keyboard.
How long are we going to have to wear masks?
Until WE stop wearing them.
“How long are we going to have to wear masks?
Until WE stop wearing them.”
This will commence Jan 20.
When do we hold a huge act of civil disobedience?
For some of us, it is when we will start wearing the mask.
I have told people that I will not have trouble reopening because I never shut down i the first place. I bought 2 boxes of Nitrile gloves in mid-March and I still have 180 of them, as well as 99.8% of the disinfectant soap in the bottle that i bought. After no-one dropped dead in a week, I realized it was a farce and I have acted accordingly since. It amuses me how people adjust their masks when 30 ft away when simply holding their breath for 5 seconds as we pass will accomplish the same thing. I am almost starting to think that people are generally stupid, naw?
I put on a mask before entering any store, because I don’t want the owners to get hit with $10,000 fines for allowing unmasked customers. I put it on before boarding a bus because the driver won’t let me on without it, and on boarding a train because I don’t want to risk a fine. Back a few months ago, when they had inspectors lurking outside the synagogues to see whether people were wearing masks inside, I used to put it on just before entering and remove it as soon as I was inside, and put it on again just before leaving and remove it as soon as I was on the street.
For some of us we can’t buy groceries unless we wear a mask!
I get flack about 5% of the time, an employee will say something. I typically encounter 4-5 employees everytime, so maybe 1 out of 100 encounters with a store employee results in being asked if I have a mask.
If I am wearing a mask, it will be worn as a chin diaper.
Wear a mask and comply. Failure to comply makes you less than non-essential, but rather a positive mortal threat to everyone on the planet, even if you are not infected and even after you have been vaccinated. So comply, or suffer the consequences. People are watching. Deviants will not tolerated. You have been asked nicely, and will not be asked nicely again. Remember, you are not essential, and your removal from the planet with reduce humankind’s carbon footprint. The fate of the entire planet is on the line, and we need to make admittedly hard choices. But removing those who do not comply is not one of those hard choices. In fact, it is a joyful event worth celebrating.
Heil Fauci!
January 6th in D.C.
Sounds like fun, but what do you think will be accomplished?
That is draw out all trolls day isn’t it????????????
Personally, I don’t mind wearing masks – There is something liberating about walking into a Bank or a Federal Building with my face covered, a hat on, and my hands in my pockets. The guards don’t even blink about it, whereas 2 years ago, they’d have come at you with hands on pistols, demanding that you uncover your face.
Early on in this, I was sitting in my car in a supermarket parking lot, waiting for a lady friend who was getting a latte. A car pulled up into the space next to me and the young man in the car unbuckled and proceeded to don a mask. I had to override my immediate urge to call the police and hold him at gun point.
He’s right. One of my kids worked in restaurants for years. When he got laid off because Prince Andy Cuomo’s edicts shut down the restaurant where he worked, he decided to get out of the industry entirely.
That’s a lot of experience lost because he chose to pursue a steady paycheck instead of just waiting for the next government hand out.
Multiply that by thousands of people in similar situations across the country and you see an industry suddenly in trouble, because the government says so. This is a bad thing.
Have a friend lives just up the street from me, here in Maine, worked most of his life in the hotel industry, has a lot of experience in management there, I’m 58, and he’s in his late 40’s, and he had to leave that job, as we rely on tourism in the winter and really most of the year tell the truth to keep the hotel business going.
He’s actually been working construction recently, had to actually go through one of the labor pools at first, and finally got hired with one of the companies he was loaned out to work for as being an older guy he had a good work ethic, unlike a lot of the younger ones.
He’s not real happy about it, as it’s not his chosen field, and he has all this experience in the work he did, but he has a regular check, decent pay, and does not have to wear a mask most of the time.
Wonder if he has bought all his guns yet….
November Gun-Buying Activity Shatters Records, Highest Percent Increase In Over Two Decades
Gateway Pundit
Friend of ours sent us a meme…
$600…
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“Ours is a world governed by the aggressive use of force.” No one will give you power, freedom or liberty. Act accordingly.
My hero!
Wiping out the middle class is the whole idea.
Feudalism ended with the rise of the middle class, and our self-styled elites have wanted it back ever since.
Feudalism ended when the black death created a labor shortage, and escaped serfs could make good wages in the cities. Word trickled back to the manor, and the remaining serfs demanded to be paid wages or they’d escape too.
I don’t disagree with him, but who exactly is going to “rise up”? Check out the top employers in Champaign County, Illinois. You will find a HUGE number of government employees and businesses deemed by out betters to be “essential.” Bureaucratic elites and those whom they have bought and paid for are perfectly okay with continuing lockdowns, since it isn’t they who are paying the consequences. We have allowed the number of government employees to grow to staggering proportions and, unfortunately, they vote. Unsurprisingly, they support getting paid to stay home.
So long as we have an elite class that is allowed to exempt themselves from the consequences of their policies then we will be screwed.
Personally, I am beginning to think that torches, pitchforks, tar, and feathers need to make a comeback.
If the state restaurant associations all started recall petitions and had every restaurant have petitions at their stores that would be a nice start. Easier than hiring people to collect the signatures, because so many restaurants have repeat locals coming in every day. You can bet they’d sign.
They’d also need to recall the lt. govs, the Sec of states and attorney generals of their respective states because if any of them move up a notch it’s just going to have to be done all over again. Nail them all in one swoop.
Off with their heads, as it were.
That would only apply in those states that have such a thing as “recall”. For instance Illinois only recently introduced it, and only for the governor; nobody else can be recalled.
My mind keeps returning to the Declaration of Independence and all the grievances listed against the king!
We are living under tyranny and martial law illegally imposed by governors and public health officials.
They arbitrarily tell us when we can go outside our homes and when we have to ‘shelter in place.’
They arbitrarily tell us what businesses can open and how many people are allowed inside.
They decide on a whim what businesses are ‘essential’ and which businesses are not.
There is no authority for what they are doing!!!
How long do we endure this?
Now, they have blatantly stolen the presidency!!!! They tell us, “You didn’t see what you saw, you don’t know what you know!”
They’re saying they have it on procedural grounds. Likewise courts have refused to look at evidence on procedural grounds.
Don’t we understand that procedure is everything? If we’ll go along, they’ll tell us that of course we have to follow it.
Our institutions are no longer serving us.
How about they suspend the property taxes etc. and give prorated returns on licenses and permits? Suspend all utility payments and rents until they can reopen.
Why does it only hurt the business owners and their employees?
This is one of the very few sensible comments in this thread.
Some of that is more practical than other parts but yes, these are good ideas.
They aren’t suspending property taxes on anyone. They need that for their pay and pensions and stuff!
The only way to reduce government is to force it to reduce. They’ll put themselves first, let you suffer so they don’t even have to sweat.
I don’t see the mechanism by which, if everyone opened up, government would do what it was told. Leftist governments don’t work that way, they don’t give a damn what you think. Wouldn’t it just find leftist judges and impose fines and penalties and even charge crimes against selected people?