Did the PLCB lie in front of the House or the Senate?

Liquor Control Board members recently spoke to the House and the Senate, and appear to have made contradictory statements in the two sessions. Did they lie when they told the House Appropriations Committee that they can't negotiate prices with suppliers, or when they told the Senate Appropriations Committee that they can? It had to be one of them.

Make up your own mind; you can hear exactly what they said.

In front of the House Appropriations Committee at about 2:43 in, PLCB Chairman Tim Holden says they can't negotiate. See that here.

Then in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee, at about 1:23:46 in, Executive Director John Metzger, with the Chairman sitting right there, says they can.  See that here.

So if the Chairman is correct, that they can't, then the Board has been and is just the normal bunch of incompetents we have come to expect. If they can negotiate, then the Board doesn't care about the consumer and is too lazy to try and get a better price.

Are either of those choices what we want to keep, and why have they lasted 82 years?

Solve the problem - Privatize and let real business handle business.

Liquor & Guns

The people's right to trade freely with their neighbors and those in neighboring states shall not be infringed. 

One line like that in the Constitution would have rendered the PLCB largely impotent, but it didn't work out that way. The right to bear arms is guaranteed by the Constitution. The right to buy alcohol is not. Both have laws governing their sale and use, but only one has the state trying to make sure you can get it: Liquor. 

Proponents of the State Store System are always pushing for and bragging about having more sales. They want to make sure that all the citizens can buy booze, but they don't want to make sure you can buy a Constitutionally guaranteed item, or have freedom of choice or be allowed to participate in interstate commerce. That, of course, would puncture their precious monopoly, and show how non-competitive they really are.

But this is -- supposedly -- all about control. Let's look at that whole concept from a different angle. If you are like me or most people I know, you probably think guns are more dangerous than a bottle of Captain Morgan. But according to State Store-style thinking, you would be wrong. I drink, and I also shoot. I probably drink more often than I shoot, but it's close, since my range is only a mile away. Let me tell you: I worry more about the guy next to me at the range than I do about the guy next to me at the bar. Just think about these comparisons.

• What takes longer to buy: a special order bottle of liquor or a special order gun (even with the federally-mandated wait time on gun sales)?

• As a private citizen, you can sell guns, but you can't sell alcohol beverages.

• Sell a bottle and you can get fined $4 an ounce and go to jail.  Sell a gun...and you get cash.

• If you're 18, you can buy a gun; if you're 14, you can get a hunting license. Buy a beer when you're 18, and you can LOSE your license.

• Most places you are allowed to open carry a gun on the street in PA ; most places you are not allowed to carry an open bottle.

• If you are a resident with the proper permit, you can have a loaded gun on the front seat of your car. If you have an open bottle, there is no permit you can get.

• If you are visiting from out of state and have a gun in your trunk and want to stop and take in any of Pennsylvania's scenic attractions as you pass through the state -- it is perfectly legal.  Have a bottle of wine from New Jersey in your trunk and make that same stop? You can be fined, and your wine will be seized and destroyed. 

• You can bring a number of guns into Pennsylvania without any special licenses or forms and shoot.  You can't bring any bottles of wine, beer, or spirits into the state -- legally! -- without special licenses or forms which the PLCB does not even make available to you.*

People who use guns professionally in their job have to be licensed, but people who sell alcohol professionally (like bartenders) don't. They don't have to be certified by the state in any way, unless and until they make an illegal sale, which seems to me like closing the barn door after the horse ran away. Our State Store alcohol sellers don't even have to be certified in any way at all, nor are they ever checked for illegal sales (they rely on 'self-reporting'). Does anybody find this strange based on all of the above?

Most states have figured out how to regulate the sale of alcohol and not treat their citizens like children. If the liquor laws in the state were even close to being like the gun laws, there wouldn't be a privatization effort (or a modernization one either) because the dead hand of leftover Prohibitionism wouldn't be on the backs of the residents. Since that isn't going to happen, we have to take control away from the state through our legislature. Give retail back to private industry where it belongs, because when the state decides what you will get, it also decides what you want and does it without any input from you.

We are not safer, we are not better served, and we are not satisfied. Privatize.


* I challenge any reader to try to find the form or forms needed to pay the taxes on 6 bottles of liquor you want to bring into the state. Good luck. 

The PLCB - Not taking care of the citizens again

The one liquor store in Waynesboro closed on September 13. On August 20th the PLCB was told by the lessor that the lease -- which ended on September 30th -- would not be renewed. It apparently takes the state store system seventeen days to move the equivalent contents of a largish 4,000 sq.ft. house; yet another thing they don't seem to be very good at.

That means there are four State Stores that remain open in Franklin County, which has a population of 152,000. This closing has the residents of Waynesboro driving 8 miles to Greencastle to the nearest State Store (or 15 miles to Chambersburg, a city of 20,000, which has two State Stores!) or having the choice of over fifteen different liquor stores in Hagerstown, MD, a town of 40,000...only 12 miles away. How big does a town have to be to have more than fifteen liquor stores in Pennsylvania? I'll give you a hint: there are only two cities in the whole state that have that many, they both start with "P," and the smaller one has about 306,000 people.

It's not just quantity that's better in Maryland, either. This is Long Meadow Liquors in Hagerstown. You can bet the Greencastle state store doesn't look like this.

So spacious! So well-organized! So friendly! So non-PLCB!

Fear not, Waynesboro! On January 2nd, it was announced that a new store would open...sometime.  No date given, no month even. Not that it matters to the PLCB; making citizens wait months, or even years for a store in their area is not uncommon at all. (Could be two years, like it was in Mountain Top.) Real businesses take less time to build stores than it takes the PLCB to lease and move into a current location. An ongoing PLCB FAIL. I mean, it isn't like they are a real business that has to take care of their customers or is worried about losing sales to the competition. They have no legal competition.

As you would suspect there are a number of grocery stores -- Giant, Foodland, Save-A-Lot, Martin's -- that would love to satisfy the wants of their customers by selling them wine and liquor, or at least wine. While they may not take the place of a full service liquor store, it would be far more convenient then relying on the one state store. Not every liquor store has to offer everything; not every grocery store does. Choice is always better for the consumer.

So there you have it. 2015 starting out like last year with more lipstick for the state store pig, and just like the 80 years prior, the citizens are left out again.

It's up to the Legislature and Governor Wolf to hear the needs of the citizens. Privatize and reap the benefits of the free market.

PA doesn't deserve the best (or maybe the PLCB doesn't know what good is). Part 5

The Wine Spectator Top 10 list started to come out this week, and this is another place where the people of PA can see in so many ways that they are not treated as most other citizens are when it comes to having the best available.

Today, Friday 11/14 their Number One wine was introduced.  The PLCB has managed to score just one of the other top wines so far.


The #1 wine according to The Wine Spectator is:

#1 - Dow's Vintage Port 2011 - 5,000 cases.  The big question is can you buy this in PA?  The answer is Yes, 6 stores carry it.  Not the availability you can find in MD, NJ or NY but if you hurry you may be able to get one of the 14 bottles in the state.

Who would have bet that the PLCB managed to out do itself and get two out of the ten top wines in stock?  I know I wouldn't.  Although with just 6 stores having it "in stock" is a push. Next week I'll take a look at numbers 11 to 25 and see if the PLCB can redeem itself with a better showing in any way at all.  I'm guessing they may have 2 maybe 3 of the 15.

PA doesn't deserve the best (or maybe the PLCB doesn't know what good is). Part 4

The Wine Spectator Top 10 list started to come out this week, and this is another place where the people of PA can see in so many ways that they are not treated as most other citizens are when it comes to having the best available.

Numbers 2, 3 and 4 were released on Thursday, 11/13:

#2 - Mollydooker Shiraz McLaren Vale Carnival of Love 2012, 4,729 cases

In what must be incredible piece of luck for PA wine drinkers the state actually lists this item and has 22 cases in the entire state and only at list price! I'm amazed! 

#3 -  Prats & Symington  Douro Chryseia 2011 2,400 cases. Not available in PA

#4 - Quinta Do Vale Meão 2011, 2,300 cases Not available in PA

Who would have bet that the PLCB managed to out do itself and get one out of the nine top wines in stock.  Nothing like giving a few crumbs to the oenophiles to try and placate them. Personally I think it was because Mollydooker was a name they recognized and not because they knew anything about it

Can they really improve to 2 out of 10 when the #1 wine is announced tomorrow and is a .200 batting average enough to keep them from being sent back to the bush leagues?  We'll find out!

PA doesn't deserve the best (or maybe the PLCB doesn't know what good is). Part 3

The Wine Spectator Top 10 list started to come out the other day, and this is another place where the people of PA can see in so many ways that they are not treated as most other citizens are when it comes to having the best available.

Numbers 5 and 6 were released on Wednesday, 11/12:

#5 - Leeuwin Chardonnay Margaret River Art Series 2011, 600 cases Not available in PA

#6 - Chianti Classico San Lorenzo Gran Selezione 2010, 8,000 cases. Not available in PA

Compared to some limited editions, bottlings of eight thousand cases is a lot of product. So where were those 'world class' apron-wearing cube rat selectors the PLCB has in Harrisburg when the advances on these wines came out? I'm guessing not reading the Wine Spectator, even though they get free copies.

Since PA is the 2nd largest wine buyer in the country not getting an allocation of the #5 wine on the list shows that the distributor thinks that is isn't worth their time to deal with the PLCB or the buyers didn't try to get it or the system we have isn't as "world class" as they say.  Most likely a combination of all of that. You can buy it in New Jersey or New York still if you want from a private seller who somehow manages to know what fine wine and good spirits really are.

Six in a row not available in PA, let's see how they do in Part 4 when wines #2, #3 and #4 are released on Thursday.  Will the PLCB continue the losing streak we have come to expect of will they have made a mistake and actually gotten something exceptional . Any takers? Any bets?

PA doesn't deserve the best (or maybe the PLCB doesn't know what good is). Part 2

The Wine Spectator Top 10 list started to come out the other day, and this is another place where the people of PA can see in so many ways that they are not treated as most other citizens are when it comes to having the best available.

Numbers 7 and 8 were released on Tuesday, 11/11:

#7 - Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2012, 6,000 cases. Not available in PA

#8 - Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills 2012, 1,226 cases. Not available in PA

Compared to some limited editions, bottlings of six thousand cases is a lot of product. So where were those 'world class' apron-wearing cube rat selectors the PLCB has in Harrisburg when the advances on these wines came out? I'm guessing not reading the Wine Spectator, even though they get free copies. I can almost forgive them for not having the Brewer-Clifton but with the (ahem) world class non-certified buyers and the supposed buying power of the state almost doesn't cut it.

Four in a row not available in PA, let's see how they do in Part 3 when wines #5 and 6 are released on Wednesday. Any bets?

PA doesn't deserve the best (or maybe the PLCB doesn't know what good is). Part I

The Wine Spectator Top 10 list started to come out yesterday, and this is another place where the people of PA can see in so many ways that they are not treated as most other citizens are when it comes to having the best available.

Numbers 9 and 10 were released on Monday, 11/10:

#9 - Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto Don Melchor 2010, 10,100 cases. Not available in PA

#10 - Château Léoville Las Cases St.-Julien 2011, 8,330 cases. Not available in PA

Compared to some limited editions, bottlings of eight and ten thousand cases is a lot of product. So where were those 'world class' apron-wearing cube rat selectors the PLCB has in Harrisburg when the advances on these wines came out? I'm guessing not reading the Wine Spectator, even though they get free copies.

Let's see how they do in Part 2 when wines #7 and 8 are released on Tuesday. Any bets?

Springfield and Philly. What a difference not having the PLCB makes!

Springfield Mo., "the queen city of the Ozarks." Population 167,000 with an MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) of a whopping 450,000. 
Philadelphia, "the city of brotherly love" (and those who buy their booze across borders). Population 1,526,000 with an MSA of 6 million.

Why am I comparing these two places? They both have a whiskey festival, although technically the one in PA is called the Whiskey and Fine Spirits Festival. "Fine Spirits" apparently includes things like Smirnoff Sorbet Light Peach and Ole Smoky Moonshine Hunch Punch, according to the masters of the mundane in Harrisburg.

So what do you get for your VIP dollars in PA? A chance to taste 304 spirits (really only 292, because some are listed twice!) of which about half (151) are something I would call whiskey or whisky. In Springfield you get  at least 200 whiskies and none are called Hunch Punch. You can look for yourself. Here is Philly, and here is Springfield. Not even close, which just shows the sad state that the PLCB is in. If a magazine can sponsor and put together a pretty good whiskey festival in a town the size of Springfield, but the 3rd largest retailer of spirits has to scrape the bottom of the barrel and still falls short, that speaks volumes about how well the PLCB serves the citizens, and what the industry thinks of our backwards system. Yes, I know the Philly Festival is sponsored by a magazine too but they can't do it without the expressed approval and participation of the PLCB.

Look at all the spirits PA doesn't carry. Must be 100 of them -- but they all are available in the free market. Of course, a number of things at the Philly Festival aren't available in PA either, which means if you really want some, you'll have to break the law to get it. All courtesy of the PLCB, who approved all of this. Even the highlights mentioned by the PLCB are laughable. There are only three, and two are for items you can't get. 

I especially like that Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey will be offered for tasting. It isn't carried at all by the PLCB, so the entire state is missing out on some pretty good whiskey. You can't get it if you did like it anyway. I guess they think the drive to State Line Liquors in MD is close enough. Which brings up the question: why even have this at the festival if the PLCB doesn't carry it? If you have no chance of buying some of the things they are offering, what's the point? It really does show how limiting and ignorant the people in Harrisburg are.

Face it, the PLCB is the reason why we can't even have a half-assed whiskey festival. People that do real festivals laugh at the PLCB and us the same way we laugh at somebody trying to buy a six pack at a distributor. You know that is the way it should be done, but somehow in PA it is never done right.

If you want to go to one of these things, plan a trip.  There are numerous festivals in the US, far better than the PLCB ones in Philly and Pittsburgh, plus you have a chance to actually buy the products you taste and give your money to somebody that cares about the consumer.  DC, New York, Boston Vegas, Nashville, LA, Bardstown, Atlanta, and more  As a consumer you deserve the best, so why support the worst?  The Free Market is the only real Modernization.

I’m a hater

Or at least that is what one pro-PLCB representative called me and he is right: I hate a lot of things about the PLCB. I’ll start off with these two dozen or so and you can add your own in the comments.

Oh PLCB, how do I hate thee, let me count the ways.

• I hate going to the state stores.
• I hate that they don't have what I want.
• I hate that most of the time I can't order it.
• I hate that if they do have something it is usually more expensive.
• I hate that Philadelphians (or any Pennsylvanian, for that matter) don't have legal access to anything approaching the selection of Joe Canal's, Moore Brothers, Total Wine, BevMo, and a host of others.
• I hate that even the PLCB's buyers know so little about brown spirits.
• I hate that the so called 'wine specialists' don’t work standard hours; say noon to eight when most customers could use them.
• I hate that the state cheats its own citizens by not allowing liter size bottles to be sold everywhere.
• I hate that the alcoholic's best friends -- the mini, the half pint and the pint bottle -- are cheap in PA, but the 1.75L bottles are 99% of the time more expensive.
• I hate that a manager can’t even set up the stores they manage to best suit their customer base, but have to follow the forms sent by Harrisburg that tell them where every bottle has to be placed.
• I hate that the PLCB doesn’t even figure that out themselves, they hire an out of state firm to do that for them. 
• I hate it when the union says that five West Virginia counties lost all service when they privatized...but don’t tell you people in those counties still don’t have to drive as far as residents of the 20 PA counties that have only one or two State Stores.
• I hate that while Gross From Sales  has increased 75% since 2000, contribution to the PSB only went up 49%, contribution to Drug and Alcohol education only went up 60%, and that in this "record year" the total contribution from sales is less than the average of the past 14 years.
• I hate wine kiosks and the very idea of wine kiosks; anybody who had a hand in insulting the consumer in that way should have been fired.  
• I hate that the three members of the actual liquor control board worked only 21 days last year.
• I hate that they need a $150,000 babysitter because the board can’t manage to work more than 22 days this year.
• I hate that somehow the PLCB thinks that the alcohol in beer is different than the alcohol in wine or whiskey.
• I hate that I can’t get a case discount to try and mitigate the usually crappy prices.
• I hate that people think the state stores are a cash cow when in reality the non-tax contribution is under 3/10ths of 1 percent of the budget.
• I hate it when we are told that PA has the lowest incidence of underage buying when the state stores are never checked for compliance.
• I hate that the PLCB spends more on advertising than education. Just what are they actually trying to do?  Make sure young people know what to buy once they are 21?
• I hate it that the union thinks one poll counters four decades of polling that show the citizens want to be rid of the state stores.
• I hate that the PLCB thinks convenience has gone up after closing 20% of its stores.
• I hate that the PLCB keeps spending money to rename the State Stores.  No matter what they call them they are still going to be State Stores.
• I hate that some cube rat or committee in Harrisburg decides what an entire state is allowed to buy.
• I hate that the PLCB online inventory has hundreds, if not thousands, of mistakes in spelling or placement making it far more difficult for the consumer than other online retailers.
• I hate that I live as far away from New Jersey and Delaware as I do.
• I hate that after 80 years we are still discussing what the majority of the states have already figured out.

To show I’m not all bad I loved Joe Conti.  He was so incompetent that I wondered if he was secretly working for privatization.

Privatization IS Modernization and government control of retail is Socialism.

Why can't Johnny read or do math?

For those of us following such things there has been a trend by some union representatives and clerks to spin or play down the amount of drinkers and thus making our voice seem more like a minority and not as important as those who think they are keeping utter chaos and ruination at bay. 

Specifically, they like to use the 13% number as those who drink once a week. However, as with most things math the clerks and the union have their own way of doing things.  What they seem to fail to realize is that the total is cumulative – i.e. you have to add the everyday, the few times a week and the about once a week numbers to see the TOTAL amount of people who drink at least once a week. This number ranges from 30 to 35% depending what time period you look at.   

In fact, Gallup has shown time and time again that 66% of the entire adult population drink some amount of alcohol.  As they reported in August this year “Thirty-five percent report having had a drink in the last 24 hours and another 29% in the past week.” This works out to 64% of drinkers which are about 66% of the population which comes out to over 42% of the total population (.64*.66 = .4224).  This is higher than what is normally reported because of the holiday included in the survey period which means some special occasion drinkers are added in that normally wouldn’t be.

We 2/3rds of Americans who choose to drink are the majority that the state store system wants to control.  They tell us what, they tell us when and they tell us where – the very antitheses of the freedom an open market brings to the citizens.  Taxation, regulation and enforcement are the role of government, not retail sales. The citizens and the state will be far better off once the aberration of the current state store system is corrected. Every state or province that has privatized some or all of their alcohol system has seen an increase in employment in the industry.  It tripled in Washington and Alberta. Increased in Ohio, Iowa, Maine and West Virginia too.

We are not inventing the wheel again.  Take the best of that the majority of the states do, regulate and enforce what they have problems with and come up with the best system.  That is real modernization not putting lipstick on the state store pig with new names or wicker baskets.

Privatization IS Modernization – Accept nothing less.

Provided for historical data (Gallup)

Every day A few times a week About once a week Less than once a week Only on special occasions Never No opinion % % % % % % % 2007 Nov 11-14 7 13 10 9 29 33 * 2006 Nov 9-12 10 13 11 9 27 30 * 2005 Nov 7-10 5 14 11 10 29 31 * 2004 Nov 7-10 7 13 13 10 25 32 * 2003 Nov 3-5 7 16 13 12 25 27 * 2001 Nov 8-11 7 12 13 14 24 30 * * Less than 0.5%