Wednesday morning: privatization 'debate' on WHYY's Radio Times

I've just been asked to be on WHYY-FM's Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane program to discuss privatization of the PLCB. The show will be this Wednesday at 11 AM. They're working on getting someone on the other side; so far, the candidates have not been "stakeholders," but rather just interested parties like me. So that's cool, because I don't really intend to debate Wendell W. Young IV, or Joe Da ex-CEO Conti. Ever. And here's why:


It's a call-in show, and if you can, please, come up with some good questions -- NOT "I want privatization!" or "The State Stores Suck!" statements, like the lame-o stuff the State Store Supporters call in with -- and do call in. Some sample questions: Why are the private license fees so high? What's the deal with privatizing wholesale? If the past is any indicator, the phone lines will be filled with pro-State Store callers (who have nothing better to do than call these shows and don yellow t-shirts to shout at people at the Capitol), and I'd be appreciative of a friendly voice!

Here's the number: 1-888-477-9499. Listen in -- on the radio, or on the Web -- and give us a call!

Debating PJ Stapleton on Privatization

If you didn't catch me on WHYY's Radio Times show this morning, well, I think it went pretty well. They did a show on the PLCB's desperate attempt to stave off privatization -- and despite what PJ Stapleton said this morning about they're just an agency, not trying to shape the debate or anything, it's very hard not to see this burst of ideas to make the PLCB suddenly more like a private system as anything but a desperate attempt for everyone to keep their jobs...by keeping us under their thumbs.

Stapleton wants more stores open on Sundays, for longer. He wants more wine kiosks in stores. He says he is in favor of home delivery of wine (watch carefully, though: that one promises more than he can deliver). He wants the PLCB freed from civil service requirements so he can hire wonderful people who love wine! It's this program that I think I'm going to call the FDI: the PLCB's False Dawn Initiative. After Stapleton laid it all out, they brought me on to lay it all waste.

You can listen to the show here. I came in about 15 minutes into it, a replacement for Senator Turzai, who's spearheading privatization in the Legislature, but couldn't make it today. Like I said, I thought I did well, but there were so many things I just didn't have time for! Like all this:

•      Lack of choice. Not just what’s on the shelf: there is no other option. I actually did get to this one, but Stapleton either just didn't get it, or was evading it. All he wanted to talk about was the selection on the shelf and the "wonderful" SLO system.
•      Not enough stores. There are more stores in Delaware, more stores in Chicago alone.
•      Lackadaisical service. Your training contract is an admission of this.     
•     No beer. In most other states, you can buy beer, wine, and liquor in the same place.
•      Unfair business practices. The wine kiosks — sad as they are — are only in stores anointed by the PLCB; Jose Garces is the only restaurateur to have a mini-State Store right in his BYOB.
•      Unfair business practices II. The PLCB is in charge of regulating a business that is, in effect, its competition: beer retail. However, the State Stores are not subject to enforcement actions by the BLCE because they are not “licensed establishments.”

And that's just the stuff I had in my notes. My main point? Why should we give you all this stuff to act like a private business...when we could just do away with you and have a private business?

We did do a little happy talk at the end: Stapleton and I agreed that the PA Liquor Code needs overhauled. We just see different needs. He thinks it needs to put more lipstick on his pig. Me? I'm thinking about pork chops and bacon for dinner.

Anyone know where I can debate Wendell?

Wine Drinker? Take a look at these

I know I haven't delivered on the reasons why wine drinkers should be in favor of privatization. I just don't know enough about it. Besides, there's that big safety valve in southeast PA; the biggest concentration of population in the state is right up against two state borders, and the liquor stores right on the other side keep folks from getting too angry about the PLCB. I really wonder if privatization wouldn't already be here if the BLCE did serious border patrols...

Anyway, here are two good recent pieces about how the PLCB affects wine drinkers. The first, by Dave Falchek at the Scranton Times-Tribune, is about how the PLCB warps even the forces for freedom in the wine world: Free The Grapes won't fight for freedom in PA. The second, by freelance wine writer Mark Squires, is just a flat-out screed about why the PLCB is obsolete, why it's bad for wine and wine drinkers, and why it simply has to go.

Read up! And catch me this Monday on the 10 AM show of WHYY's Radio Times (91 FM in Philly, or listen online at www.whyy.org); I'll be providing counterpoint to PLCB chairman PJ Stapleton's alternatives to privatization. Should be fun...