For the first part of this topic, please refer to my previous post.

Continuing the saga, it amazes me just how shady the Democrats are. Their activities are often times absolutely transparent - yet they work quietly and secretly as if they think they're pulling something over on the rest of us.

So, getting back to that bastion of socialism otherwise known as Madison, we find ourselves staring down the throat of yet another of the Democrat's slick maneuvers that simply exemplify their disregard for "what's best" in lieu of fairness and money.

It would seem that my original suspicions regarding the extent to which the distributors played a role in this fiasco were closer to the truth than even I could have suspected. It would seem that, while the Democrats and distributors claimed that their push to ban direct sales of wine to retailers by local wineries was all about "fairness," there was also a monetary value associated with it as well. Big surprise, right?

One could have suspected that there was something sour going on when a piece of legislation that specifically targets and threatens local wineries could be slipped into the state budget bill under the cover of darkness without the wineries even knowing about it.  I mean, maybe I'm just thinking outside the box here, but I would figure that part of having an open government would have meant that the wineries were involved and at least given a chance to debate the legislation before it was put out to a vote. But that may just be my wild and unconventional thinking again. I'll try to control that.

So, as much as I like to point the finger at the Dems for doing silly things, they don't often do things like this because they're bored. There was something else at work here - and that something else was money.

See, although the local distributors are operating under the guise of "fairness," the truth of the matter is that they want a piece of the action. Wisconsin wineries are a quickly growing industry in the state, and it's an industry that's generating money... Money that the local distributors want their piece of too. Right now, local wineries are allowed to sell their wine through local retailers without having to sell through a distributor. This enables small wineries to stay in business and helps keep wine prices down for the consumers. Hell, any time you can cut a middle man out of the equation is a good thing. That's just basic economics.

But that sort of thinking usually pisses off the middle man, and when people can't get their way, who do they turn to? Why, the Democrats, of course! Turn to the people who can be bought off and who can be so easily swayed into doing things by working the word "fairness" into the conversation. Turn to the people who don't care what sort of damage they might do to the local economy so long as they are there to ensure that everything is fair and equal.

Don't believe it? Well, the numbers don't lie (although politicians are certainly adept at denying connections) and since campaign finances are publicly available, we can find out all sorts of dirty secrets. Like the fact that employees at Madison's General Beverage Sales, Inc. contributed more than $20,000 to state democratic campaigns in 2006. It's even worse if you go back through 2005. You can look at all the numbers here via Opensecrets.org if you're bored.

How convenient. Of course, General Beverage is one of the only wine distributors with statewide reach. Do you think that this little piece of legislation would benefit General Beverage? You bet it would.

So now we can do some math here:
"fairness" + money + democrats = ?

What are we getting here? Who's really benefiting from this? The democrats got money plus they get to feel good because they're creating more "fairness" in the world. The distributors get money because now they will be able to get a piece of the action. The local wineries get... Run out of business if they're too small to be able to hire a distributor. Loss of revenue due to the use of a middle man... The consumer gets... Higher prices. Loss of a selection of local wines... The state tourism industry gets... Hit because of a loss of wineries which are becoming a staple of the state's tourism industry...

Need I go on?

This is just another perfect example of how the Democrats work in this state (and this country). Underhanded dealings,  last minute amendments to bigger bills, late night votes, going after industries without allowing them any involvement... It's all in a good day's work, right?

As before, I urge you to write your state representative and ask that they stop this thing at the assembly. The senate didn't give us a chance, so now it's up to the assembly to do the right thing and do what's right for the state and the state's local industry.

Find and contact your representative here.