Monday, July 4, 2016

The PLCB - When, why and how we got stuck with it

A great write up from WFMZ about the beginnings of the PLCB. I recommend giving it a read.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Great Read, very interesting the way this system came into existence. Although the Control is slowly being lost to Big Retail interests and their big check writing abilities, it just comes down to "Money".. little care is given to the Safety of the Citizenry, let us just coddle the the Out of State people who cry.. " Where's the 6 packs. Where's my two daily bottles of Wine.. Cry babies go to the State Store and Beer Distributor.

Lew Bryson said...

News flash for you, Glenn: there never was much "control." When beer is sold by private retailers by the case and keg, when wine, beer, and spirits (and cider, for that matter) are sold by the drink by private retailers, the state's liquor laws don't "control" access to alcohol, they're really just an annoyance. It DOES come down to "Money," the money controlled by the PLCB, the patronage controlled by the Legislature and the Governor, the money flowing into union coffers. There are no "Big Retail interests" involved here; no one's spending much on lobbying this cause except the unions and the beer distributors (a collection of relatively small, family-owned businesses). "The Safety of the Citizenry"? DUI, underage drinking, alcohol deaths: any current number you choose, Pennsylvania is squarely in the middle of the national average, so what exactly is "Control" accomplishing? And I'm no "Out of State people." I was born in Pennsylvania, lived here over 50 years, family has lived in PA since the 1700s. And all I want is what almost everyone else in the world takes for granted: respect, and free access to what is a legal product, without the government telling me what particular brands I'm allowed to buy, and how much of them, and where. "Cry babies" indeed, what infantile language you use.

Albert Brooks said...

It is about money. Money that the PLCB prevents from entering the state through new business, more employment, entrepreneurial sprit and chasing a significant portion of the population out of state for better selection, service and pricing. We are not safer, cube rats in Harrisburg selecting what an entire state is allowed to buy doesn't serve us better and the highest border bleed in the entire country proves that we are not satisfied. We...as in the population, the little guy, the citizens, the ones that the state is supposed to make life better for - not aggravate them for 83 years.