Where the hell are we?

Quick post, because I'm really busy, but something has to be said, because we're getting hosed again. Today is a big day for the beverage alcohol industry on Capital Hill. The House subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy is holding a hearing on "Legal Issues Concerning State Alcohol Regulation," which is Congress-talk for "the three-tier system."

Where did it come from? According to Wine & Spirits Daily, "This sub-committee hearing was said to be ushered along by the National Beer Wholesalers Association, and is to focus on the state-based regulatory structure of the US alcohol beverage industry, in contrast to the more deregulated UK industry." But producers don't want the hearings because no one really knows what's going to be said or what's going to come out of it.

Here are the people who will be testifying (courtesy of Beer Business Daily):

Panel I - First, the politicians. Here is where the rhetoric is:
· Rep. Bobby L. Rush, 1st District, State of Illinois
· Rep. Mike Thompson, 1st District, State of California
· Rep. Steve Cohen, 9th District, State of Tennessee
· Rep. George Radanovich, 19th District, State of California -- a winemaker, so likely on the side of deregulation.
Panel II - the industry and regulators:
· Mr. James C. Ho, Solicitor General of Texas, Office of the Solicitor General, Austin, TX -- as SG, he's on the side of prosecuting and enforcing regulation.
· Ms. Nida Samona, Chairperson, Michigan Liquor Control Commission, Lansing, MI -- a Michigan regulator, likely will fall on the side of regulation.
· Mr. Stephen Hindy, Chairman and President, Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, NY, brewer.
· Ms. Pamela S. Erickson, Chief Executive Officer, Public Action Management, Scottsdale, AZ -- former regulator and consultant.
· Professor Darren Bush, Associate Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center, Houston, TX -- He went to school in Utah, and specializes in antitrust and regulation and deregulation in electricity markets. So naturally he's qualified to speak on alcohol.

So who's missing? You are. Once again, there are no representatives of We The Drinkers, no one to stand up and say, "Yo! Here's why all this is not fair to us! While you're debating what's good for the industry, and the 'three-tier system,' you always forget the fourth tier, the people who have to deal with this!"

And the same thing's going to happen next month in Harrisburg when the Great Beer Raids Hearing takes place. I ask you: who do you have to know to get a drink around here? Why are we relegated to the gallery and told to be respectfully silent? When's our chance?

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

Nothing about beer, food, baseball, whiskey, or the PLCB here. I'd like to talk to you about pancreatic cancer, for two reasons.

First, this is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in America, and has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers. This year, an estimated 42,470 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 76% of them will die within one year of the diagnosis. Yet pancreatic cancer research receives less than 2% of the National Cancer Institute's budget. It's not a hidden disease. Patrick Swayze, Justice Ruth Ginsburg, Steve Jobs, Randy "The Last Lecture" Pausch all had/have pancreatic cancer; chances are sadly quite good that you know someone who did.

And that's my second reason. Next Thursday, November 12, will mark one year since my dad told me he had pancreatic cancer. As he said at the time, when he handed me the green folder with his diagnostic report in it, "There's no easy way to say this."

As I learned more about pancreatic cancer and its bleak prognosis over the next few weeks, "no easy way" loomed large in my mind. Our calendar seemed suddenly, cruelly short. We gained hope when we learned his tumor was small, more when chemotherapy and radiation -- including a clinical trial of a new regimen that my father undertook, painful and wearying though it was -- shrank it to the point of being operable. Our hopes were dashed when the surgeons found that the cancer had already metastasized, as pancreatic cancer often does. It is an evil, spiteful bastard of a cancer, and if I could reach into my father's body and tear it out by the roots and stomp on it, I would.

But...subsequent chemotherapy has been moderately successful; it has significantly slowed the advance of the disease (the main tumor is actually smaller). My father is in good health, considering that he's 80 years old and undergoing chemotherapy, and he's still doing yardwork and baking biscuits for the dogs. He wants to see Thomas graduate from high school this spring, and I believe he'll make it.

That's why I'm taking this opportunity to talk to you. I know it's not fun to read. But if any of you see this, and want to help, click on the banner up above. One of the most important things you can do is to write your Congressional Representative about HR 745, the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act, which will direct and enable the Department of Health and Human Services to increase funding for pancreatic cancer research. And if you have your own causes -- something I thoroughly understand, and endorse! -- and decide to take a pass, no problem. I just wanted to do something for my dad.

Thanks for listening. You really are a great bunch of readers, and I appreciate it.

To Think I Once Said Congress Wastes Too Much Time

From Business First of Louisville:

U.S. Reps. John Yarmuth and Brett Guthrie have formed the Congressional Bourbon Caucus, an officially recognized Congressional Member Organization. They will serve as co-chairman of the caucus. Yarmuth, Kentucky's Third District representative, and Guthrie, the state's Second District representative, formed the bipartisan caucus to organize a group of representatives "dedicated to maintaining and strengthening the bourbon industry in the United States and educating other members on the legislative and regulatory issues impacting the industry," the representatives said in a news release.

To date, 17 members of Congress have joined the caucus and more are expected to join in the coming weeks, according to the release. More than 95 percent of the world's bourbon is distilled and aged in Kentucky by distillers that employ more than 43,000 people. More than $3 billion of Kentucky's gross state product is generated by distilled spirits and more than 500,000 people visit the state's distilleries annually, the release said. "This caucus offers a solid base of bipartisan support for one of Kentucky's most important industries and largest employers," Yarmuth said in the release. "Congressman Guthrie and I both agreed that it was important to create a working group that would advocate for this critical part of the Commonwealth's economy."

You know, Congress is doing important work. Maybe Yarmuth and Guthrie could teach the other reps something about making a good cocktail, too.