Quit yer Winin’!

Prince Charmings and level playing fields are seemingly equally elusive. Everyone wants an edge, and while the government is ostensibly supposed to be on the side of everyman, let’s face it, everyman is a lousy campaign contributor. So as we have seen repeatedly, large constituencies that a screaming wheels (forget “squeaking,” ‘cause it jes’ don’t cut it no more!) and cash-rich special interests (often one and the same) pretty much get their way at the expense of everyone else.

Couple the proclivity to follow the screaming dollars – and even the quiet, behind-the-scenes dollars – with two incredible skill-sets: (i) spinning and (ii) justifying. Spinning is when you see a big problem – like a financial industry that literally collapses a global economy – and blame something that clear is either unrelated (immorality that leads to God’s punishment) or may indeed be the cause of the problem in the first place (blaming too much regulation and high taxes). Justifying is what lawyers do to help the spin.

Like a bill pending in Congress that its sponsors say would help clarify confusion that has resulted as federal courts have thrown out state laws that ban the sale of alcoholic beverages across state lines as violative of the jurisdiction of the federal government’s control over interstate commerce. The proposed statute would give complete control to the states over any such sales. They argue that states have the right to regulated such controlled substances within their borders and generate taxes for the resulting sales. States want to tax everything that is bought and sold in other states – particularly on the Internet – so what’s so special about alcohol? It makes you drunk, say the states! So why do they allow it to be sold in their stores (even in states with government alcohol “package stores”)?

What’s the real reason for the proposed law? Since they’re not a lot of states where alcohol is a major industry – wine in California, New York, Washington and Oregon for the most part, and distilled spirits in Tennessee and Kentucky – they’re a lot more states that would gather more “support” (read: campaign contributions) if their local retailers and distributors could force all alcohol sales through their systems, increasing both their volume and their ability to jack up the prices without fear of outside competition. Hmmm?

The folks in the alcoholic beverage industry who support the new proposal have their take: “‘It's the cumulative effect of all these lawsuits, and the confusion,’ said Paul Pisano, a vice president at the National Beer Wholesalers Assn., which proposed the legislation in the spring and backs a lobbying campaign. ‘We're asking to make sure that states aren't having their hands tied when they're trying to defend their alcohol laws.’" Los Angeles Times (August 5^th). And I’m the Easter Bunny!

For many small vintners, the ability to access the Web is literally the only way they can survive; big local distributors and retail chains simply don’t take the small stuff. These farmers would simply be frozen out of the system. “‘South Coast Winery in Temecula [California], for instance, sells almost 30% of its wine through a 10,000-member wine club and ships to customers in about 20 states, owner Jim Carter said…‘It's very important for small wineries, especially, to be able to have these wine clubs because it's our best vehicle for dealing direct with the public,’ Carter said. ‘We sell more wine through our wine club than we sell in the wholesale market.’… Th rough consolidation in recent years, many markets are controlled by only a handful of high-volume distributors, and they have little incentive, critics contend, to carry wines and beers that are available only in small quantities….

“‘The House bill would ‘devastate California's and other states' wine industries, stunt economic growth and harm consumers by allowing discriminatory law and regulation to be passed and go unchallenged,’ Reps. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) and George Radanovich (R-Mariposa), who head the Congressional Wine Caucus, recently wrote their colleagues… California accounted for 75% of all wine shipped directly to consumers for the fiscal year that ended March 31, according to Wines & Vines in San Rafael, Calif., an industry news, marketing and research firm…” The Times. May I propose a toast?

And so it is with regulation; some bills help level the playing field and benefit everyman. And some don’t.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I may be looking for a pour excuse!