Wine Kiosks DEAD; Conti says, "It certainly wasn't a failure."

The wine kiosks are dead, they've been taken off life support. As I predicted, the PLCB has used their trumped-up charges against the kiosks' hapless creator, the so-called "Simple Brands," as an exit strategy. They are leaving this debacle bruised, battered, smoking, and humiliated, the kiosks -- their bright, innovative idea to give the consumer what they want (that their own people told them was "deficient") -- rejected by Wegmans and Walmart as well as the state's consumers...and what does Joe Da CEO have to say about the whole thing, this 15-month circus of embarrassing failure?

"It certainly wasn't a failure."

and

"I still think there is merit to the program."

and

"It didn't end up successful, but we learned a lot and we will end up better for it."

Can we run a drug screen on this man? Because he is not in touch with reality at all.

So where are we...the program was an abject failure (except at making the PLCB's top management look like the arrogant, clueless bureaucrats they are), the PLCB is going after "Simple Brands" for $1.2 million in charges (that the company's lawyer -- finally making comment -- called "malarkey," noting that the PLCB was overbilling for maintenance and hardware) through the Board of Claims (a system Conti admitted was glacially slow, noting that one case took 18 years to settle), and, oh yeah, "Simple Brands" is suing the PLCB for $81 million in damages.

And the PLCB (and AG Jack Wagner, and Senator Scarnati) want us to "take off the handcuffs" of the Liquor Code to let them realize their full potential as a government-owned-and-run monopoly business? Maybe we ought to get out some actual handcuffs.

Regime Change?

Privatization may or may not happen. I understand some of the Labor Party -- sorry, Democratic Party legislators are going to be proposing some changes to the PLCB and the Almighty Liquor Code (the ones PJ begged for to "untie their hands"), so the Legislature MAY stay lazy and keep the damned thing. Hey, let's be honest: we may be stuck with this swaybacked mule of a liquor system, this fossilized relic of Repeal, this coprolite.

In that case...could we at least have it run right? As I pointed out in a recent post, the current PLCB administration has presided over an absolute Carnival of FAIL. Can they be held responsible? I think they can. Check the new poll: PJ and Joe Da CEO should resign, or be fired. It's reached that point. As a "shareholder" in this cockamamie "business"...how do you vote?