I can't wait until my state has the same dirty, run-down corner liquor stores that I remember fondly from my youth in NJ. It was so much fun waiting for Old Jack to go take a leak so we could sneak into his shop, lift a bottle of whiskey, run back outside and drink it till we puked.

/Ah, to be 13 again.

1183 is a really stupid idea. Costco and Walmart are the ONLY people in the state who would benefit from this. Everyone else would be worse off. If you live in Washington, please vote against this.

FloydA: 1183 is a really stupid idea. Costco and Walmart are the ONLY people in the state who would benefit from this. Everyone else would be worse off. If you live in Washington, please vote against this.


^DON'T LISTEN TO THIS GUY.

1183 would benefit consumers in Washington State......so vote yes. At the very least, vote yes just so you can piss off all those soccer moms on TV who are making over the top emotional appeals.

/Also, the anti-1183 banner ads on Fark really grind my gears.

The_Sponge: DON'T LISTEN TO THIS GUY

Well that tears it for me.

I'm listening to that guy.

FormlessOne: FloydA: 1183 is a really stupid idea. Costco and Walmart are the ONLY people in the state who would benefit from this. Everyone else would be worse off. If you live in Washington, please vote against this.

We know. That's the truly amusing part about I-1183 - it's obvious as hell that Costco's paid big money to steal the revenue stream that is the state liquor business. It's a rehash of I-1100 & I-1107, only with less altruism and more "c'mon, you want cheap Canadian Club - vote for cheap booze from Costco!"

It's the best legislation Costco can buy, apparently, and it's still going to fail because it's a dumb idea.

That won't make booze any cheaper here. The state will no longer set the high prices, but the taxes will go up and the stores that pay huge licensing fees to sell liquor will pass the cost on at the cash register. Boo. Leave it like it is until there's a good proposal.

The_Sponge: FloydA: 1183 is a really stupid idea. Costco and Walmart are the ONLY people in the state who would benefit from this. Everyone else would be worse off. If you live in Washington, please vote against this.


^DON'T LISTEN TO THIS GUY.

1183 would benefit consumers in Washington State......so vote yes. At the very least, vote yes just so you can piss off all those soccer moms on TV who are making over the top emotional appeals.

/Also, the anti-1183 banner ads on Fark really grind my gears.

Right now, the money from liquor sales goes into the state treasury.

If 1183 passes, the same money goes into the bank accounts of Costco and Walmart.

Therefore, if 1183 passes, Washington state will either raise taxes or cut services to make up for the shortfall. The state cannot afford to lose any revenue right now- they are barely able to pay the bills as it is. If voters take away liquor sales as a revenue source, you can be certain that some new revenue source will take its place. Want to bet that whatever they replace liquor revenues with will cost you less?

The roads near my house are already full of potholes. Pass 1183 and that gets worse, and/or we end up with a state income tax, raised sales tax and/or more toll roads.

And booze will not be a single cent cheaper as a result. Seriously; I've lived in states without state-run liquor stores, and it's no cheaper.

I don't really like the people in the TV ads either, but I do like the people who work at my local liquor store and at my local corner convenience store. Maybe you know the people who work at your local stores too. Ask them how this bill would affect them.

The only people who would benefit from 1183 are Costco and Wal*Mart. If you actually work for, or own stock in, either of those businesses, I can understand your support for the initiative, but otherwise, I can assure you that it will make your life worse.

Vote your own self interests- 1183 will cost you.

Good. I should be able to walk into ANY damn grocery store and buy alcohol. The state can get its money elsewhere, or by instituting a higher sin tax.

czetie: State-run liquor stores are nothing more than the vestigial puritanism of America.

You ever been to the NH State Liquor Store?

It's f*cking heaven.

Washington resident, not a union member, here.

How will the Costco initiative get me more choices? Right now, I get hundreds of whiskey and bourbon choices at the state store. Not as good as a truly deregulated state like California, Illinois or New York/New Jersey, but way more than rows and rows of Costco branded Canadian Club.

Will Costco handle niche brand bourbons and scotches? I don't think it will. It will sell its usual house brands, plus one or two mainstream brands like Crown Royal.

Will they be cheaper, I don't think so, that 27% tax increase.

But what about the volume discounts. Doesn't that put craft distillers and wineries under threat of either selling to Costco/Walmart in bulk, or losing sales and closing?

Sum it up: I am usually pro privitization, but this specific initiative as well as Costco's obscene amount of money poured into getting it passed make me distrust it and not like the risk to niche distillers and wineries. I'm voting NO.

Get a real privatization set up, like Illinois or California has, and we'll talk. But don't just require 10,000 square foot private distributors only. Thats a recipe for boring mass produced booze labels only, least common denominator alcohol, zero representation for niche brands or high end quality brands.

And the tax increase built into it (the bribe to get the firemens' union on board) is bullsh*t. A true privitization wouldnt have to raise taxes to do it, it would actually result in lower prices. Independent studies I read say this wont lower our prices, it will just raise taxes and prices along with it.

I'm hoping enough people won't be duped, but I don't know it seems to have more groundswell than the older, better privatization efforts had. Thanks to Costco's media carpet bombing.

The Stranger is against 1183. You'd think they'd be in favor, but they aren't.

Initiative Measure 1183

Vote No

If voters pass the measure, according to retail giant Costco (which poured $11.2 million into this campaign), state revenues will skyrocket from additional liquor taxes, liquor prices will drop, liquor consumption will not rise, and unicorns that shiat crushed ice and piss 7 and 7 will drop by your next house party.

I-1183 would close 166 state-run liquor stores and allow 1,400 grocery stores to start selling liquor next June. But liquor wouldn't be any cheaper under I-1183. In the best-case scenario, according to state estimates, liquor prices would stay the same. Worst case, the average price for liquor increases 20 percent.

And unlike I-1183's predecessor, Costco's failed liquor initiative I-1100 (which the SECB backed last year), this initiative transfers the state's liquor monopoly to a handful of large retail chains. Under I-1183, only stores with 10,000 square feet would be eligible to sell hard alcohol-that's stores like Costco, Safeway, QFC, and Trader Joe's. Your small local grocer won't be selling liquor if this thing passes. On top of that, I-1183 imposes a 10 percent tax on liquor distributors but creates a giant loophole that allows grocery chains-the big corporations who are bankrolling this thing-to bypass distributors and buy liquor tax-free. Once again: This is not what democracy blah blah farkin' blah.

Vote no.

Why does anyone even speak of Drew in any headlines? When was the last time you even heard him address Fark? He just hit total paydirt and checks his bank account. There really is no need to felate him in headlines (well, I guess it as close to an insta-green as you can get). He doesn't read them. I wouldn't either if I was able to get people to pay me to post on a glorified message board.

Mixolydian Master: Why does anyone even speak of Drew in any headlines? When was the last time you even heard him address Fark? He just hit total paydirt and checks his bank account. There really is no need to felate him in headlines (well, I guess it as close to an insta-green as you can get). He doesn't read them. I wouldn't either if I was able to get people to pay me to post on a glorified message board.

He talks to the TFers pretty often for a forum like this, also the TFers submit a lot of headlines, also people who submit a lot of headlines also buy TF so they can get an idea on what is already being submitted. The reason I'm saying that is because hopefully it is obvious why you mights see a bunch of headlines that talk about him.

Also, this is a great website. I like it.

Generation_D: Get a real privatization set up, like Illinois or California has, and we'll talk. But don't just require 10,000 square foot private distributors only. Thats a recipe for boring mass produced booze labels only, least common denominator alcohol, zero representation for niche brands or high end quality brands.


You do realize that many grocery stores that aren't Costco are 10,000+ square feet, right?

Mixolydian Master: Why does anyone even speak of Drew in any headlines? When was the last time you even heard him address Fark? He just hit total paydirt and checks his bank account. There really is no need to felate him in headlines (well, I guess it as close to an insta-green as you can get). He doesn't read them. I wouldn't either if I was able to get people to pay me to post on a glorified message board.

Actually he'd probably respond to your derp if he was not so busy flooding facebook or twitter with all caps lock posts.

/never met the guy

They've managed to survive just fine in other states where the ridiculous 3-tier system isn't in place. Volume discounts = cheaper booze. Good.

I'm a frequent buyer of high end scotch, I don't give a crap about "the children" or any other arguments pro or against. Neither sides explained what this thing is going to do to my access to bourbons and scotch. Til they do,voting no.

I don't trust "big box retailers" as distributors any more than I trust the state. Less, in some ways.

drzrma: Given a choice between the current 3 tier system, which is complete and utter garbage, and Costco, I'll go with Costco every time.

If that wasn't enough, I'd vote for it just to piss off the people that payed big bucks to put "No on 1187 think of the children" ads everywhere. At least Costco is being pretty honest about what they want and why, the think of the children ads are all payed for by the distributors trying to protect their monopoly.

Not that I don't love being forced to pay a 50% markup so that people I dislike can make my life more difficult. It's not you state run liquor stores, it's me, we're just too different.


The amusing thing in all of this is how the anti-1183 crowd is trying to make Costco look like an "evil corporation". Really? You're going to hate on a company that is BASED IN WASHINGTON, and that treats its employees well?

Mixolydian Master: Why does anyone even speak of Drew in any headlines? When was the last time you even heard him address Fark? He just hit total paydirt and checks his bank account. There really is no need to felate him in headlines (well, I guess it as close to an insta-green as you can get). He doesn't read them. I wouldn't either if I was able to get people to pay me to post on a glorified message board.

Yeah, there was a time I kind of thought that. Then I met the guy. Have you met Drew? He's awesome.