By Christopher McCollum

Government officials in North Carolina have decried the actions of local alcohol board administrators for living in a ‘Culture of Entitlement,’ and using public funds for lavish get-aways.

In what could be compared to the halcyon days of Frank Costello and the Teamster Unions, or just plain old government corruption, it has been revealed that the local administrators of the alcohol boards seem to be pocketing enormous sums of money generated from alcohol taxes, and none of it was visible on the State level. North Carolina is the only state in the country in which local ABC boards sell directly to the customers on a local level, and the State Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission has very little authority to exercise over them, since they are appointed and run by the county in which they reside.

In conjunction with governor Bev Perdue, the Control Commission is acting quickly, using their limited powers to reign in the local administrators potential corruption by closing down a law that allowed them to receive modest gifts from liquor companies. This was done in reaction to revelations that liquor companies were footing the bill for extravagant $300 lunches at the Charlotte Ritz Carlton, as well as the bill for a party that included $1,000 of 11 year old Dom Perignon Champagne.

Much of the hype in Raleigh has been attributed to the recent information that a father and son administrator tandem in Wilmington have been drawing over $400,000 a year in salary and bonuses, in addition to using tax payer money to fly to and stay in Arizona resorts that cost $300 a night, while renting a $200 a day luxury car.

Of the $700M worth of liquor sold last year, it generated $259M in taxes that went to state and local governments. $113M went to running the local stores, leaving the rather large sum of $146M to fund the Culture of Entitlement that is said to be enjoyed by these local administrators. Commissioner Chairman Jon Williams had this to say about it: ”Every dollar that comes into the ABC system in this state is a dollar that belongs to the public … the public’s money is not what is left over at the end. It is public the moment it is handed over the counter.”

Time will tell how extensive this use of taxpayer money is, as investigations are pending. Let’s hope that this isn’t a large scale case of alcohol funding corruption.

By Christopher McCollum

Fresh news out of Russia indicates that Dmitry Medvedev is at it again, with the Kremlin raising the Vodka tax in Russia by nearly 100% for the New Year, and some people are supposedly rumbling that the Vodka industry will be Nationalized, all in an effort to curb the high alcohol-related death rates that have plagued the nation for the better part of the past century.

Reuters reports that this new effort to combat alcoholism also includes heavy excise duties on Beer, and there are also plans on the table to restrict when and where Beer can be purchased. This new legislation was engineered to come into effect right now, in the midst of Russian Orthodox Holiday celebrations which last the first week and a half of January, and is ridden with rampant alcohol use. The threat to institute duties on Vodka is also being discussed, and there also lies the possibility that Medvedev will follow in Mikhail Gorbachev’s footsteps by ordering cuts in the production of wine and spirits. If that happens, then it’s easy to assume that bootlegging will also pick back up, as it did in 1985 when Gorbachev issued his prohibitive order.

Medvedev has shown a prohibition stance in the past, and we started warning on Culture of Spirits back in October that he was soon going to be taking steps to slow the alcohol industry down in his country. It has finally happened, a few months later, and now we are left to see what the future holds in the Motherland of Vodka.

If Medvedev is determined to follow in Gorbachev’s footsteps, then we will be keeping an eye on the Russian news services, to track the number of deaths related to dirty bathtub Vodka. Additionally, one must wonder where the taxes from these hikes are going to be going, and we can only hope that they go to educating the populace on alcohol consumption and dependence. However, if the Kremlin undergoes a massive new remodeling, let’s see if we can track down where the funding comes from.