The Liquor Control Board violates the PA Constitution as well as the Declaration of Independence and the Federal Constitution. Government is forbidden from engaging in Commerce because government is formed to protect private property not compete with it.
The PA system of selling wine and spirits in government stores is a monopoly. Monopolies are forbidden. In addition, government is not allowed to sell anything. The Constitutions prohibit government selling because they do not give permission to do it.
In addition, the big money is the wholesale end where the state keeps an inventory of about $198 million and sells about $1.7 billion each year. The State Stores are retail outlets. the state buys wine and spirits for $198 million and sells it about eight times through the year. They spend $1.5 million but the booze is a small part of the cost of running the retail and warehouse operations.
The LCB says it makes $500 million profit but before it makes that profit is spends $1.5 billion. If the sale of booze was all private the entire $1.5 billion would be in the free market and available to the businesses and consumers, not the measely $500 million.
Read those numbers again. Government keeps $1.5 billion out of the market. If the government wasn’t in the booze business the citizens would keep an additional billion dollars a year.
Closing the retail stores is only a small part of the story but it’s been a big distraction that’s allowed the government to stay in the illegal, monopolistic booze business.
Views: 13
