National Review Bashes PA State Stores

But are you surprised? National Review, taking aim at PA’s admittedly quirky state liquor laws, makes the case that social values conservatism and union-dominated machinism may again team up to defeat the privatization of liquor sales, as they have many times before. Titled Quakers and Bootleggers, the piece takes aim at Republican Senators like Chuck McIlhinney, who lean leftwards when it comes to this issue.

In the case of alcohol prohibition, teetotaling Baptists supported the law because they hoped that fewer people would raise their spirits by downing spirits, while bootleggers supported the law because they wanted to drive drinkers into the black market, which outlaws would by definition monopolize.

As the piece notes, however, there are more “bootleggers” than Quakers left. And with the bill already having passed in the House of Representatives, there aren’t as many bootleggers as some might like. [National Review]