The Moderate Washingtonian

Outlook on politics and elections in the state of Washington from an overall centrist viewpoint. My views tend to be libertarian in nature, but at the same time are largely nonpartisan.

23 August 2006

WSLCB chases business from Seattle

This bugs me. I had read something a few months back about a proposed malt liquor ban in some neighbourhoods of downtown Seattle, a big brother effort to keep drunks off the street, and today's Seattle Times has a follow-up on this poorly-conceived effort by the Washington State Liquor Control Board. Small-time convenience stores are afraid that having these popular products banned will cause sufficient damage to put them out of business, and considering most of these stores have little space and little product beyond beer, soda, and snack food I think this policy will have a large and unwelcome effect on small business downtown. Proponents of this authoritarian tactic are quoted in the article as pooh-poohing the plight of these businesses by suggesting they sell other products like groceries and flowers -- you know, things that people don't go to convenience stores to buy. As far as I'm concerned, these yuppie elitists should move to the suburbs. Living in an urban environment is not about living free from the less-savoury parts of society, and trying to control vice by restricting business is not the way to go about pandering to these pansies, WSLCB.

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