A vote For More Regulation

Imagine for a minute a crazy world.  Imagine you live  just outside Atlanta, Georgia.  You own a Peach farm and produce preserved peaches.  You work hard to improve the quality of your product and your efforts pay off, you start to get inquireries from folk in Delaware about purchasing some of your Peach preserves.  Now imagine this: you can’t simply ship your product to Delaware.  Instead, you have to write a polite letter to the state of Delaware for permission to sell your product in their glorious state.  A few weeks later, you receive a packet of forms from the Delaware PPC (Peach Preserves Control),  not really a “Welcome” packet… more something designed by  Tomas de Torquemada.  In addition to your fingerprints, financial statements, SS number, personal details and (of course) demand for fees, the state also requires you post a $5,000 bond and promise to update on their website the price you charge for your product on a regular basis.  The PPC also requires you to swear you will pay any sales tax due to the state for any Peach Preserves shipped to customers in that state promptly.  You also have to make sure you do not sell any Peach Preserves to anyone over the age of 85 who has problems maintaining a healthy blood glucose level.

Welcome to the wine world.. if you think the scenario described above is a figment of my imagination then think again… this is my reality.  In times when I hear folk grumbling about China and competition from other countries I say: Let us fix our own backyard first!   So here is my bright idea:

Governor Jerry Brown (in case you read this) I vote you send a letter to the 48 or so Governors of states that restrict the ability of California winegrowers to sell product in their states and tell them that as of January 2012 we will simply mirror their regulations on everything they wish to sell to California’s 30 plus Million residents.  I was going to ask politely that other states drop their unfair wine regulations but I realize that a smaller government is not in the best interest of all.  Instead, let’s make our state lead the way!  I’m not that good in math (I was surfing when that class was taught in high school) but I am pretty sure we can wipe out most of the state’s budget deficit while creating thousands of new jobs just by the fees we charge Wall Street for selling securities to California residents.  Just imagine the revenew stream we can generate from Dow chemicals for selling breast implants in the LA zip code area alone!  I can go on and on but I think you get the picture.  Stay tuned for next week when I attempt to find the producer’s margin on a bottle of wine sold (been looking for it for 14 years).