most ignored on the calendar. a contributor to the grio.com as well as author and political analyst, and he joins me now. many of the business who have elected to remain open on this holiday say they simply can't afford to close the doors. so with the economy as bad as it is, is that something to consider, something to understand? >> well, yeah, it is. certainly that's not a major criticism of mine. as a matter of fact, going back in time, president reagan, as you know, signed the initial king holiday bill. that was one of the concerns that he cited in this reluctance, among other things to sign the bill. he mentions cost. however, what we've always said is this, we understand if you're a small and medium sized business, struggling, you can't afford the cost of giving an employee a day off because obviously it does cost and small businesses have been slammed hard by the recession. however, that doesn't say this, that on lunch breaks, on any other free time employees have, at least allow them the opportunity in some way, shape,