This could have been a great thing. Privatizing any industry is almost always good. But of course there are a ton of hidden taxes and fees. (oregonlive.com)
Because of the complex nature of the new fees, and additional markups by distributors, it's unclear what the final cost of a fifth or a half-gallon will be until it gets rung up at the cash register. State analysts have predicted prices could go up by as much as 20 percent from what they were before the privatization initiative passedA liquor store manager in Rainier Oregon said that sales had jumped 20 percent since the new legislation was passed. Many Washington residents are flocking to the government ran liquor stores in Oregon to get better prices.
So, what was supposed to be a great thing, got screwed up by the government. The link above stated that there is a 20.5% sales tax and a $3.77 per liter tax! What is this, New York City?
While we are on the liquor sales subject, I have been thinking about something. Why can't alcohol be delivered the same as pizza? It seems to me that it would be a healthy benefit to society. A lot of Americans drink a few beers, catch a buzz, run out of booze, and drive to the store. The fact that residential alcohol delivery is illegal will not stop me from getting alcohol if I want it. Why didn't we elect Ron Paul?
This is a depressing but fascinating result. I am thinking that as they work the bugs out, prices may still come down, without any more tweeking. But, I would like to know how the initiative was written, and if the supporters got the law they were looking for. If the state unilaterally jacked up taxes on top of the Initiative, that should serve as a great warning and campaign ad for the citizens to work to get the government out of their business.
ReplyDeleteYou never know with citizens of the Left Coast though. I know most Oregonians have never met a tax they don't like. This result may be what they really wanted.
I think that Oregon is considering changing their liquor sales law. We need to get rid of gas attendants too.
ReplyDeleteThe article points out that "Costco, which fronted the money to push the measure in Washington, said it has no plans for a similar drive in Oregon -- at the moment."
ReplyDelete"Washington state recently privatized liquor sales. " What does this mean? That the only place someone could buy liquor before was from the government? That and the gas attendant issue sounds like communism to me. I must be misunderstanding something.
The hopes and dreams of Ron Paul supporters that a utopia where people can freely smoke pot and do drugs have been dashed.
There is supposedly a big day over in Europe with the Greek elections. News networks are making out like it is a big deal.
In Oregon you have to go to a state owned liquor store. There are plenty of them and their prices are not bad, but you can't buy liquor anywhere you want. It sucks
ReplyDeleteWow, that is amazing. What is the rational for this
ReplyDeleteMark Steyn has some funny articles:
"Take, for example, the attempt at soaring rhetoric[of Obama]: “That’s how we built this country — together. We constructed railroads and highways, the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. We did those things together,” he said, in a passage that was presumably meant to be inspirational but was delivered with the faintly petulant air of a great man resentful at having to point out the obvious, yet again. “Together, we touched the surface of the moon, unlocked the mystery of the atom, connected the world through our own science and imagination. We haven’t done these things as Democrats or Republicans. We’ve done them as Americans.”
Beyond the cheap dissembling, there was a bleak, tragic quality to this paragraph. Does anyone really believe a second-term Obama administration is going to build anything? Yes, you, madam, the gullible sap at the back in the faded hope’n’change T-shirt. You seriously think your guy is going to put up another Hoover Dam? Let me quote one Deanna Archuleta, Obama’s deputy assistant secretary of the interior, in a speech to Democrat environmentalists in Nevada:
“You will never see another federal dam.”"
So today our money-no-object government spends lots of money but to no great object. What are Big Government’s priorities now? Carpeting Catholic universities with IUDs. Regulating the maximum size of milk-coffee beverages. As Obama told us: “That’s how we built this country — together. We constructed railroads and highways. . . . Together, we touched the surface of the moon, unlocked the mystery of the atom.” And as we will one day tell our grandchildren: “Together, we touched the surface of the decaf caramel macchiato and deemed it to be more than 16 ounces. Together, we unlocked the mystery of 30-year-old college students’ womanhood. One small step to the Ikea futon for a lucky Georgetown Law freshwoman, one giant leap for womankind. Who will ever forget the day when the Union Pacific Board of Health Compliance and the Central Pacific Agency of Sustainable Growth Enhancement met at Promontory Community College, Utah, to hammer in the Golden Spike condom dispenser?”
http://www.nationalreview.com/blogs/print/303015