Posts Tagged ‘campaign contributions’
$1,400,000. This is the price that Florida legislators are willing to take in order to allow wine wholesalers in that state to bend over and have at Florida’s wine lovers. Over the past five years, the Florida alcohol wholesalers have contributed more than $1.4 Million to Florida legislators. What does that buy? Besides politicians, it purchases a restriction that will prevent Florida consumers from purchasing wines directly from some of America’s largest wineries. If you ask me, that a piss…
Continuing FERMENTATION’s look at money, wine and politics, we turn in this post to the money spent on political campaigns at the state level. It is here, in the individual states, where nearly all legislation and regulations concerning alcohol, its production, its sales and its distribution is undertaken. Between 2004 and 2006, contributions to state level political campaigns from beer, wine and spirit concerns totaled $21,362,727. The overwhelming majority of this money comes from distributors and wholesalers of alcohol. This…
Over the past few months FERMENTATION has tried to cover a variety of political battes involving wine and wine distribution and sales in particular. We’ve been candid in our position that money usually sways the outcome of these battles. That is to say, campaign contributions tend to deliver not only access to office holders, but too often results in success in state houses across the country and in Washington. With the 2006 campaign cycle roaring into high gear, we thought…
