From Eric Dondero:

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board was organized immediately after Prohibition officially ended in 1933 as a means for regulating the wine, beer and spirits industries, and collecting revenues for the State. The Board is controlled by three appointees from the Governor's office. Democrat Ed Rendell is currently serving as Pennsylvania Governor, and has served in that capacity for nearly 8 years. All three current Board Members were appointed (and re-appointed) by Gov. Rendell.

Last week Pennsylvania State Troopers conducted raids in the Philadelphia area of bars for not filing the proper paperwork and failing to pay a small fee registering the names of certain exotic beers that were for sale.

From Philly.com (Daily News), March 8:

IT WAS ELIOT NESS and the Untouchables, as played by the Keystone Kops.

More than a dozen armed State Police officers conducted simultaneous raids last week on three popular Philadelphia bars known for their wide beer selections. The cops confiscated hundreds of bottles of expensive ales and lagers, now in State Police custody at an undisclosed location.

The alleged offense: Although the bar owners had bought the beer legally from licensed Pennsylvania distributors and had paid all the necessary taxes, the police claimed that nobody had registered the precise names of the beers with the state Liquor Control Board - a process that requires the brewers or their importers to pay a $75 registration fee for each product they want to sell in Pennsylvania.

However, it turns out that the Troopers and the LCB may have made some paperwork errors of their own. Continuing:

More than half the beer removed by the State Police was properly registered - but the cops couldn't find it on their lists because of "clerical errors" or "blatant ineptitude" between the police and the Liquor Control Board, with whom the officers were conferring by telephone.

For instance, the cops grabbed Monk's Cafe Sour Flemish Red Ale.

The beer has been sold throughout the state at dozens of restaurants and distributors for the last seven years. The brand appears on the state's online list as "Monk's Café Ale." It's on tap seven days a week at the Center City bar after which it was named: Monk's Cafe, at 16th and Spruce streets.

But that wasn't enough to keep the State Police from confiscating 20 bottles and three kegs of the supposedly illegal ale at the three bars...

The raids have even Pennsylvania liberals scratching their heads. From noted blogger Joel Mathis of Cup o' Joel

And it’s in situations like these that I realize conservatives have a point when they speak of government bureaucracies having tyrannical tendencies. If you step back and think about it, it’s kinda weird that brewers would have to register each and every single variety of beer they produce — no matter how small the batch — if they want to sell it in Pennsylvania. And it’s even weirder that the state’s public safety resources are devoted in any measure to confiscating beer that might’ve been improperly registered. Good lord: Don’t we have more than enough car accidents and homicides to track and solve?

In fact, the State Police raid appears to have been the result of a clerical error — one that the police say might take months to resolve. It’s enough to turn you into a libertarian.

The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania has had a platform item for decades in favor of complete privatization of the LCB. Republican legislators and even former Republican Gov. Dick Thornbergh have tried unsuccesfully in the past to privatize the Board.