Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Vox Populi

Newspapers are the voice of the people, even now, in the age of the Internet. There are left-leaning ones, right-leaning ones, moderate ones, and some that seem to just wander about the center. But in Pennsylvania, right or left, they all seem to be in favor of liquor privatization.

The State Store clerks and their union bosses will tell you that it is because of the advertising dollars that newspapers will get from liquor ads; it's all about the money. But if you look at the Sunday New York Times, in the largest media market in the country, how much liquor advertising do you actually see? Usually under a quarter of a page. How much do they think The Somerset Daily American is going to get in advertising column inches? Makes for good sound bites, though, and helps you forget that for the clerks and the union bosses...it's all about the money.

I wonder how the "liberal media" is somehow controlled by the right on just this one subject, don't you? They know and have known that the people overall want a private liquor system. There has never been a scientific poll showing otherwise, including all the polls the newspapers have done themselves. The first complaints published about the PLCB were shortly after it started, saying there was a lack of selection and convenience. 82 years later, nothing has changed.

So here's the challenge. What newspaper is actually in favor of keeping the state stores? Are there any, besides the Raging Chicken Press?  (I'm not making that up and it isn't a print newspaper either.) Perhaps a few union and progressive blogs, but even some of them are in favor.

Here are just some of the newspapers that have come out editorially, some numerous times, for privatization. Where is the list of newspapers against?

Bucks County Courier Times-Intelligencer
Butler Eagle
Express Times (Bethlehem)
Lebanon Daily News
Philadelphia Inquirer
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Scranton Times Tribune
Somerset Daily American
The Altoona Mirror
The Citizens Voice (Wilkes-Barre)
The Courier Express  (DuBois)
The Delaware Daily Times
The Observer Reporter (Washington/Greene Counties)
The Patriot News (Harrisburg)
The Pocono Record
The Pottstown Mercury
The Reading Eagle
The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre)
The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown)
Williamsport Sun-Gazette
York Daily Record

All parts of the state, all sizes of towns and cities, all in favor of what the people want. 3,000 clerks should not control the wants of a state of 12.7 million.

Privatize. Make this the year it happens.

13 comments:

Lew Bryson said...

And of course, the Philly Inquirer ALREADY gets a lot of advertising revenue: from the liquor stores in NJ and Delaware who know who to advertise to. For that matter, the PLCB feels the weird need to advertise their legally-mandated products in the Inky as well.

Anonymous said...

The PLCB wants to compete for the out of state customers. And if the "modernization" is allowed to move ahead then they will be able to drop prices in Philly to lure those buyers. However, the rest of PA will still have to pay the inflated prices. It's amazing how much money is spent on contracts and advertising when it is a captive audience.

Lew Bryson said...

"Modernization" is just another way of saying "bend over, here it comes...again."

Anonymous said...

What's sad is that the board and all the senior staff know that. As long as they stroke the pols they can screw the citizens.

Albert Brooks said...

While modernization is just another way to suck more money out of the citizens they can't do it unequally by making prices cheaper in Philly. They have to, under current law, screw everybody equally.

Anonymous said...

You're correct however the changes they are proposing in pricing will allow them to do that along with how they run promotions.

Anonymous said...

I have given up on the thought of privatization. It will never happen and I'm done wasting my time promoting privatization. I have come to the realization that we will always have state stores and I'm just hoping that they improve them.

Lew Bryson said...

See ya! We don't need quitters, and we don't want so-called improvements or modernization. We will continue to push for the real improvement: privatization.

Albert Brooks said...

Too bad. Anonymous is so well known promoting privatization I don't know how we will withstand the loss.

Anonymous said...

Different anonymous here. I really, really hope for privatization but we do face an uphill battle. The UFCW will stop at nothing (always stooping to a new low) and their friendship with the Democratic Party, which has a monopoly on urban votes the way the PLCB has a monopoly on wines and spirits, is salt in the wounds.

Honestly though, this is Pennsylvania. This is a state that is near the bottom in income and education when compared to the other 49 states. I don't really think the average Pennsylvanian is wise enough to know or care about why privatization is needed. Don't get me wrong I love PA, but I can't help but notice how uneducated a lot of the populace is in this state. A lot of them are oblivious to how alcohol sales are different in other states. A lot of people that I know (yes I live in Pennsylvania) have never left PA in their lives. It's really a tragedy. The grass is only greener on the other side if you care to learn what you're missing. Ignorance is bliss. Do you catch my drift?

Anyway, I am very disappointed in the PA Republican Party for not standing up to the UFCW and Democrats. It pains me to see the Republicans all over the country do everything they can to oppose Obama (I'm not taking sides here, just stating the facts) but our own Republicans in PA totally neglect their job to oppose the PLCB. The PLCB should never have been created and it has been a black eye for Pennsylvania for over 80 years. I guess the Depression and then WWII were distractions from the injustice of the PLCB in its early years, so by 1950 it was too late to undo the PLCB mess because unions already were entangled with it. Then came the 1951 liquor code. Ouch.

Lew Bryson said...

Privatization will never happen? An uphill battle?

Are you serious? We're closer than we've EVER been! If not for Senator Chuck "Rent-a-Pol" McIlhinney, we'd have had privatization three years ago, and now it's only Wolf holding it up; the man needs a win badly, and the GOP will as well to balance against the Trump phenomenon. Deal time, people! Clearly not the time to let up.

I'm not going to bother commenting on your insulting "Pennsylvanians are dumb" statement except to correct your assertion that "This is a state that is near the bottom in income and education when compared to the other 49 states." Latest survey by Education Week: Pennsylvania is 7th in education (yet Wolf wants to dramatically increase spending). Income? Pennsylvania ranks 23rd. Sounds like you need some education; your 'facts' are about as faulty as Wendell W. Young's.

Anonymous said...

Well known fighting privatization? Do you think troll that hides behind a fake persona is famous for being anything but a coward? I'm glad you're not "famous". You only give our cause a bad name. This blog died when Bryson took you on as a partner.

Albert Brooks said...

Just so we know are you the anonymous that is for privatization or against privatization? Pro choice or pro life? 2nd amendment supporter or gun control? Anonymous has been such a force in all things internet I guess I should be happy you grace us with your presence here.

However, I am the same every time and every place I post so whom is being the coward here? While not as famous as anonymous, and I probably never will be, I am known for being able to back up what I post and if you had that ability then you might be able to put forth a reasonable argument for whatever position you hold at the moment. Hard to say since there are so many anonymous posters.

I like my nom de guerre, at least I'm not anonymous.