July 6, 2015

Pennsylvania Governor Rejects Privatizing Liquor Industry

Either Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf impaired his veto decision process with a little too much to drink, or he really doesn’t understand why we celebrate Independence Day. Under a bill passed by the state legislature, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB), which regulates the liquor industry with Leviathan-like price, product and quantity controls, would be dismantled. In other words, no more government calling the shots (no pun intended). Instead, the free market would pick winners and losers — which is exactly how it should be. Not so, according to Wolf, who last week vetoed the bill that would have prohibited overburdensome government meddling. The first-term governor asserted, “During consideration of this legislation, it became abundantly clear that this plan would result in higher prices for consumers.” He added, “In the most recent case of another state that pursued the outright privatization of liquor sales, consumers saw higher prices and less selection.” Regarding the first claim, what could possibly keep prices in check better than free-market competition? As for the second claim, Hot Air’s Jazz Shaw notes, “That most recent case the governor mentions is Washington. And they did see prices go up when they privatized, but Wolf fails to mention that it’s because they passed a huge new alcohol tax at the same time. Funny how that works, eh?” Whatever the reason behind Wolf’s veto — and some think ulterior motives are at play — Pennsylvanians have good reason to question why they elected a governor who can’t put Economics 101 into practical use.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.