Virginia's new governor talks privatization

Virginia's new governor wants to privatize liquor sales in the Old Dominion State, and he's willing to talk plainly about it; no pussyfooting. More power to him. We need someone like this in PA, eh?

(I dunno about that host guy's leather jacket, though...)

Virginia's Got It, Too

I saw on Dave Turley's Musings Over a Pint that an effort to privatize Virginia's State Store System died in committee, dammit. State Senator Mark Obenshain made the effort, and says he will continue to do so (if you're a Virginian, and interested (Carl!), the senator has a Facebook group to support his efforts: find it under "Virginians for ABC Store Privatization."

The Northern Virginia Daily has a good piece on this, reasonably balanced, in which it is pointed out, quite clearly, that this economic crisis could be a great time to push this: the state could realize a lot of money (as I pointed out about the PA SSS here).

But Obershain's main point is not fiscal, it's philosophical, and it's the biggest Reason that there is: the State should not be in the retail liquor business. As he says on that Facebook group, "There are certain core competencies of state government, but selling distilled spirits is not one of them."

Best of luck, Senator. Now, when is a Pennsylvania legislator going to get the guts to step up and propose what most of the folks in the State know is the right thing to do?