PA getting out of the liquor business?

Direct from the state legislature, courtesy, Bob Godshall.

Rep. Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) unveiled legislation this week to privatize the wholesale and retail operations of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB). The bill would auction off 100 wholesale distribution licenses and 750 retail store licenses to the highest responsible bidders. The auction of the licenses is expected to bring in a minimum of $2 billion in revenue. Tax changes under the bill are predicted to generate $500 million annually; the current system brings in approximately $375 million in tax revenue. Presently, the PLCB owns and operates 621 state stores throughout the Commonwealth and is responsible for the purchase and distribution of all wine and spirits within the state. The sale and distribution of beer would not be affected by the legislation.

I'm all for this; the state shouldn't be in the liquor business anyway. Open it up to competition and we all win.



What's your take?

How about a spot of tea?

Tea Party members from all across the country demonstrated on April 15. While there have been alleged members of the group spouting hate at some of the rallies, for the most part they have been pulled off without a hitch. I write about the Tea Party movement in my April 19 column in The Times Herald. So, here's my question. As we argue about the fringe element of the group are we missing the message? Is that by design? I'm not happy with the direction this country is headed in, are you? OK, that was three questions; take your pick of which one you want to answer.

Sen. Specter's Visit

Sen. Arlen Specter will visit us today for an editorial board meeting. We want to open up a portion of the meeting to you, our readers. If you had the chance, what would you ask the Senator? Please post your question here and I'll try to fit it into the interview.

Fringe benefits?

The benefit of the doubt is getting harder to give, http://bit.ly/cdZiwM

Blurry Lines

So, where is the line, http://bit.ly/bpFEeb? The way I see it I could run for office, build up a nice campaign war chest and use it to pay off my house, my car, whatever. Why would anyone (and by that I mean individuals, not corporations) give to any campaign?

Trash Talk

Good morning Lower Providence. Good morning East Norriton and good morning Philadelphia.
How about some open debate for a change?
What are the merits of having one trash hauler as opposed to having your choice of several?
Here's what I'm thinking.
I live in West Norriton. We have our pick of about a half dozen trash haulers. For us, that means we can drop anyone we don't like at anytime in an effort to get better service and a better price. You know what else that means? I don't think there's a day that goes by without a trash truck rumbling down my street before the crack of dawn.
Now, Lower Providence just renewed its contract with one trash hauler. If the township supervisors were doing their due diligence, which I have no reason to believe they weren't, and a quick Right To Know request would clear it up in a minute, then residents of Lower Providence are getting the best price, and possibly the best service for their buck. And if they're not happy with either they can re-bid the contract.
East Norriton, you're debating whether to go with a single trash hauler. So for residents I guess the question is whether you trust your elected officials to make the right decision.
Philadelphia is struggling so the mayor wants to start charging $300 a year for trash collection. My only response is that I'm pretty sure they're already being taxed to pay for collection so why is the city trying to double dip into residents pockets?
The lines are now open. Where do you stand?

Angus found on Schuylkill Expressway

Check out the power of social networking, http://bit.ly/9YCLyW, and a heartwarming story.

Citizen Journalism Redux

Here's where journalism is headed in a hurry, http://bit.ly/9JS5TD. We, and by we I mean the newspaper industry, will not lose our core values as we catapult ourselves into the 21st Century.
Thomas Jefferson once said, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not for a moment hesitate to prefer the latter." We will keep fighting the good fight, no matter the platform.

Remembering a friend

My tribute to Montgomery County Sheriff John Durante, http://bit.ly/dx6yOf. Please feel free to share.

Snow job

So, how good of a job did your town do plowing your streets? I live in West Norriton and I'd have to give them at least a "B." I won't go to an "A" because, well, I hardly rank anything as the best, and we still have mountains of snow in our development. I thought they were sending in front-end loaders to haul some of it a way, but I guess not. Anyway, how about your town. I think a "B" is a pretty darn good grade, did your town do any better?

Citizen journalism

Have you ever thought you have what it takes to do what we do? Or maybe, you think you can do it better than we do it! We're kicking around the idea of bringing in a group of people to talk about citizen journalism, which basically is defined as journalism in the hands of every day citizens. While that is a scary concept for a hardcore journalist to accept, we're not talking about bringing in people to do investigative journalism, we're talking about having a troop of citizens looking out for news in their neighborhoods, kind of a rookie journalist who has more will power than training. I know there are at least a dozen or so residents in Lower Providence who fit the description. How about the rest of you? You don't seem to want to talk about Obama's state of the union address, so how about chiming in here?

Obama turning a corner?

I closed my eyes while listening to President Obama's speech and for a very short moment there I thought I was listening to a Republican. He was actually touting small business as the economic engine that will pull this country out of the recession. A capitalist if ever I heard one. Your thoughts on the speech?

Play nice, please

OK, kids. If you can't play nice I'm going to have to put you in time out. Seriously, watch the personal attacks. I don't like them and I will continue to remove them.

Speaking of playing nice, I'm not really sure who gave CBIZ the go ahead to play with the county's money. It looks like nobody right now, and it looks like there weren't any requests for proposals sent out to insurance companies.

If I'm wrong, I'd sure like to know. Perhaps someone from CBIZ could give me a call?

Montco, PA, home of pay to play?

Sunday's editorial in The Times Herald requires more than one reading. First read through and you think to yourself, oh well, that's politics, but when you read it for the second time you have to think to yourself, wait a minute, isn't this the very definition of pay to play?
Here's the Reader's Digest version. CBIZ is the county's health benefits consultant; the county asked CBIZ to go find it the best deal on insurance, which amounts to a $35 million expenditure each year, and CBIZ contributed a good bit of money to (Montgomery County Commissioners Chairman) Matthews’ campaign, and the topper; we cannot find any evidence that requests for proposals were sent out to any insurance companies to determine if CBIZ was indeed giving the business to the lowest responsible bidder.
All of this could quickly be cleared up if Matthews would simply provide the information requested by The Times Herald.

The real scoop on Lower Providence

OK, it appears to me that residents in Lower Providence wanted twice a week trash pick up and the lowest responsible bidder was J.P. Mascaro and Sons. Seems like the right decision was made last night by the board. My question is - as probably was the case with the American Revolution Center - are there really just a few disgruntled LP residents who squeak the loudest, or does the majority truly believe the supervisors are selling the township down the river? Just to let you know, anyone who posted to another thread on this subject it was not approved, please post your response here. I want to keep the comments going under the appropriate posts. Thanks.

Limerick, not a funny rhyme

Feds are back in Limerick looking for something. What have you heard? They, that would be the feds, were there early last year but nothing ever came of it. They were looking into allegations against former supervisor David Kane. Now I'm being told they were there to gather information on equipment at Limerick nuclear plant for security purposes, saying it's routine. Really? How come we've never heard of these visits before?

Healthcare reform still on life support

While I can understand the euphoria surrounding the House passing health care reform, please remember it still must make its way through the Senate where Democrat turned Independent Joe Lieberman said "I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote." Why? Because the public option portion could bankrupt this country. Why not try to push the bill through without it and send it back to the House?

Republicans on the comeback trail

Montgomery County and half the nation, okay, at least a couple of states, have decided we've about seen enough of what the Democrats can do when they take charge. Republicans swept into the judicial seats, taking six of the seven seats on Common Pleas Court. Most of the local races were won by Democrats, though, except in Conshohocken and Lower Providence. Thankfully one Republican made it in West Norriton. A Republican took the governor's seat in New Jersey, and Republicans took over in Virginia as well.
What a night. How does your morning look?

Election Day Drama

I know it's going to happen somewhere, so drop me a line and let me know if it's taking place at a poll near you. As is tradition on Election Day I don't get to the newsroom until later in the afternoon so let's get the party started, no matter which side of the aisle you sit on. Any predictions?

Phillies and fanatics

Please notice that fanatics is not spelled with a 'ph.' That's because the fanatics I'm going to talk about today are of the political bent. But before I go down that road let's make a quick prediction for the World Series. I've got the Phillies in five. They'll split the games in New York and finish them off Monday night. What's your prediction?
Now on to the fanatics. This political season has gotten nasty, as usual, but there are some people who just go too far. The personal attacks are absolutely the worst. I guess if you don't have something intelligent to say you simply attack your opponent. How about this, a candidate that sends out a personal attack is automatically taken off the ballot?