Posted on 07/12/2010 11:12:31 AM PDT by Niuhuru
I don't think they were fake, merely illegal. I wonder if so called journalists ever read what they write?
I know how disdainful you are about it, but really, he’s a self starter and I admire how this guy built something for himself.
Actually he was producing counterfeit booze and tobacco in addition to not paying taxes on it.
What cracks me up is why someone capable of putting in the level of effort necessary to build an enterprise of this size would need to do it illegally.
The taxes and licensing and regulation are so expensive you can’t have a legitimate go at it and instead risk jail?
Taxes, licensing, and regulation always help protect established producers to the detriment of start ups.
Well, I, for one, seriously doubt that the vodka and tobacco were fake......just not regulated and taxed.
Precisely.
I’m confused by the wording - they call it “fake vodka” and “fake tobacco”, but it looks like it’s real vodka/tobacco, with fake packaging.>>>>>>>>>
Written by a fake illiterate reporter. Of course the vodka was real vodka and good otherwise they could not have sold so much
You misunderstand, I have no disdain for the gentleman whatsoever.
It truly is a shame, if he had paid the right bribes and greased the right palms in political and legal circles, he’d still be making his product without wasting away in Woodhill.
Of course if his name was kennedy instead of Conroy, he’d also be free as a bird.
Odd word choice, but I think the writer was referring to the fact that the distillery was bottling and passing their vodka off as other brand names - Smirnoff, Glen, etc.
I’m guessing the tobacco was “fake” for the same reasons - using someone else’s brand name.
‘It’s striking that the alcohol factory had exactly the same format set up for it as the tobacco factory”
Just shows you that the guy had a good business model.
Counterfeit might have been a better term to use. The vodka was real, but they were sticking counterfeit labels on it to pass it off as various brand names, like Smirnoff.
Bribes, protection money, campaign contributions-- they're just taxes by other means.Or is it the other way 'round?
Just suggesting.
If the tax increases now projected come through, I expect we'll see the same sort of thing: a shadow economy of home-brewing, barter, cash-n-carry trade, poaching, brigandage, extortion and perhaps little vigilantism. I doubt that the IRS and local constabulary has the resources to cover their expanded role. Interesting times ahead.
I'm not sure who you mean by “we” but, yes, FULLY legalizing popular drugs AND not taxing them to death will eliminate the criminal element currently associated with them. That is fact with solid precedent.
The debate begins when we ask if legalization will cause more damage to society and take away more freedoms than the current failings of the drug war. There is no precedent or information that can predict what will happen.
What I do know from real field experience over 10 years is that the supply/quality of drugs has been increasing every year while prices have been stagnant. The rate of illegal drug addicts has stayed the same while prescription addicts have increased. We have given up more and more of our financial, privacy and property rights in the name of this war. We continue to spend billions with absolutely no results to show for it.
I'd say it's time to try something else and ignore the special interests that wish to keep the status quo (LE, pharma and big gov’t).
I apologize. If anything, I daresay that he could have set up in China, then made a fortune selling it to the Chinese market. Which is what I plan on doing if/when I set up that sort of business.
What a shame that business entrepreneurs are punished like this. Could have expanded on it and hired people, providing jobs.
That’s quite alright. I should have been clearer in my post.
I am just so SICK of seeing people lose their businesses that they work like fiends to build up. Like that one homeless man who worked his way up and had the city confiscate it. Makes me sick that a Third World country is more lax about businesses and working your way up out of poverty, where in America and Britain, first world countries, are more hostile to someone moving up in the world.
I mean "we" as in us pinheads who think giving the gubmint another way into our pockets in the US is a good thing...do YOU mean the multi-million dollar underground distillery did not exist? Or, it wouldn't exist if the "taxes were not too high" like most of our taxes turn out to be too low?
I'd say it's time to try something else and ignore the special interests that wish to keep the status quo (LE, pharma and big gov’t).
Big Pharma? Giggle. Ohhh...those nasty bstrds...I see ...ahh... the "roll the dice theory" of social engineering through LOW taxes...I like it! Very conservative!
He was dodging $15 per quart of liquor taxes, and labeling his booze with the labels of rival, legal sellers?!
Ah, now I see. Well, he had the chance to put it in his own name.
Excellent point. I can agree with that. It is not unknown for some counterfeited items to be BETTER than the "brand name" original. Perhaps not very often, but I have heard of such cases.
Which should tell you all you need to know about today's news reporting: It's mostly lies.
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