Lowman Henry
Lincoln Blog
by Lowman S. Henry
Manipulating the Liquor Debate
May 08, 2013
A prime example of how special interests manipulate the public policy debate in Harrisburg can be seen in recent developments surrounding efforts to privatize Pennsylvania's Soviet-style liquor store system.
State Senator Chuck McElhinney chairs a key senate committee that last week held hearings on liquor privatization. He has already stated he would not have voted for the House-passed version of the bill, waffles constantly on the issue, and his biggest political backer owns a beer distributorship.
Simply put, McElhinney stacked the committee hearing with privatization opponents. This resulted in the predictable barrage of "sky will fall" media coverage.
Then, along comes FM College which the same day as the hearings are held goes into the field with a statewide poll that - again predictably - shows declining public support for liquor privatization.
This flies in the face of unbiased polling which shows overwhelming public support for ending the current state-run system.
Add these developments together and you get a case study in how Pennsylvania politics works. Special interests control key legislators; key legislators stack hearings; compliant media report on the hearings; pollsters then "survey" public opinion reinforcing the goals of the special interests.
Welcome folks to public policy 101 - Pennsylvania style.
Lincoln Blog Archives (last 25)
| Date | Title | |
| View | March 25, 2013 | Merit Selection = Corruption |
| View | January 30, 2013 | Senator Daylin Scarnati |
| View | January 02, 2013 | A House Divided |
| View | December 28, 2012 | A Tale of Two Parties |
| View | November 02, 2012 | Black Robed Bandits and Voter ID |
| View | October 31, 2012 | Debate Skills Key Factor in Romney Surge |
| View | October 30, 2012 | Role of Government in Storm Response |
| View | August 10, 2012 | White Flag Flies on Liquor Stores |
| View | July 24, 2012 | Blame the Nut Case, Not the Gun |
| View | June 22, 2012 | Cracker Plant 'Misunderestimated' |
| View | June 19, 2012 | Tick, tick, tick . . . |
| View | June 12, 2012 | Tax Credit is Not School Choice |
| View | May 23, 2012 | Obama Meltdown in Appalachian States |
| View | May 22, 2012 | Legislature Must Lead on Pensions |
| View | May 08, 2012 | Reason for Pessimism |
| View | April 26, 2012 | Quote of the Week |
| View | April 06, 2012 | Good Friday |
| View | March 30, 2012 | Obamacare: President Loses Either Way |
| View | February 09, 2012 | Mr. Vice President? Rubio Wows CPAC Audience |
| View | February 08, 2012 | Anybody But Mitt? |
| View | January 24, 2012 | Joe Paterno |
| View | January 13, 2012 | Penn State Trustees Should Resign |
| View | January 12, 2012 | Saving Taxpayer Dollars |
| View | January 02, 2012 | Presidential Frontrunner Santorum? |
| View | December 16, 2011 | GOP Debate Scorecard |
