As Joe Strummer said many years ago, "You have the right to free speech (as long as you're not dumb enough to actually try it)."
"Know Your Rights"

If you want to cut to the chase, here's the money quote:

Ask yourself why that is? It's an easy answer: so Craig Wolf and his Mafia-like organization can put state legislators in their back pockets and buy state laws and regulations that protect their already protected businesses even more - without fear of that legislation being challenged and turned over by Federal and Supreme Courts.

I met Mr. Wolf at a legislative hearing in Sacramento a couple years ago, on this exact topic - lobbying for laws to restrict shipping wines into California from out of state. Believe me, he has zero interest in the end consumer, our freedoms, our choices, only in protecting the interests of the wholesalers.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

You work for a food distributor, food, damnit, food. Don't tell me you work for a beer wholesaler!!

Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!!

If this passes, better develop a taste for plonk.

I know how you feel. I work for a retailer. Every time we order wine from a wholesaler we're lining the pockets of those who are attempting to do away with our rights to support smaller wineries via direct shipping.

I feel all dirty now; like I need to take a shower.

A snippet from Open Market suggests that the TTB opposes the current draft of HR 5034. Hearings on it may be delayed.

Thanks for the link, Boyce. Interesting article.
Interesting in that the liquor lobby/big distributors can easily buy off the Congressmen, but are not successful in buying off the regulators. That is, unless you're in the oil biz. Then you provide trips & whores and the regulators w/ grant you anything you want.
Also interesting that the TTB would take a stand on this over constitutional issues. Seems outside their purview.
Course...this is all legal wrangling and lawyers....a subject way over the head of a simple little ol' country computational physicist. All that jurisprudence and whearas and habeas corpus stuff makes quantuum physics child's play. :-)
Tom

It's because the $/vote function is an irrational value.

oHHHH, NOW it makes perfect sense!

Here's an article in today's LA Times about the legislation (which it does not identify by name or number):

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wine-internet-20100806,0,6434175,full.story

Bruce

A winery owner and current president of the Va. Wineries Assoc. has a good piece on this topic in the Richmond Times Dispatch today.