When I first heard Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell boast that by privatizing the state's liquor system he could generate the same amount of revenue and raise $500 million from auctioning off liquor licenses while holding liquor prices where they are now, I assumed this was just a free-market conservative peddling another cockamamie scheme for spinning straw into gold.
It's not that I have great affection for state-run liquor monopolies. Seventy-seven years after the repeal of Prohibition, you'd think we regard the sale of liquor to consenting adults no differently than the sale of any other good. And if Virginians want to discourage liquor consumption while raising money for governmental purposes, there's this thing called the excise tax that would do the trick without forcing on law-abiding consumers the limited variety, service and convenience of a state-run operation. > > > >
