I agree with the Butler Eagle’s July 21 editorial supporting state Rep. Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, in his effort to dismantle the state monopoly on liquor sales. However, the case for this long-overdue action does not rest on the benefits to state revenue or consumer convenience. Rather, it rests on the fact that the ideology behind the current system is not compatible with a free-enterprise system. As the editorial correctly notes, “selling alcohol is simply not a core government function.” This system cannot be defended on anything other than with a socialist political philosophy — the antithesis of the ideals of our Founders. Meanwhile, in an Associated Press article that appeared in the Butler Eagle, former Lt. Gov. and Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati states that, prior to dismantling the state’s coercive liquor sales monopoly, we should take the “handcuffs” off the State Stores. I am dumbfounded at the level of evasion exhibited by Scarnati, who has completely ignored the fact that the ones who are truly handcuffed are those who are forbidden by government decree from entering the liquor sales business.
