Vote.com has been asked to send the following issue to its voters. Any views
or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the client/author and
do not necessarily represent those of Vote.com or its staff.

The old Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms – now with the friendlier
name of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) – is getting involved
in the particular formulas of alcoholic malt beverages, such as Smirnoff Ice,
which have been growing in popularity over the past several years.

To begin with, it is not clear what business the federal government has
deciding what formula a beverage company should use in its products. The
companies that have made these beverages have followed one set of rules for
thirty years but now, TTB wants to change these rules in the middle of the
game.

Keep in mind, these proposed changes have nothing to do with alcohol content.
This is all about flavoring. Why is the government wasting its time and our
tax dollars meddling in this?

So what happens if the bureaucrats get their way with our favorite drinks?
Companies will have to spend millions of dollars changing the way they make
these beverages to comply with the new rules. And, these extra costs will get
passed to us!

This is why we need your help!

Go to www.savemyice.com and tell the government to keep their hands off our
favorite drinks.

Thank you.

"TOM KAN PA" wrote in message
...
Vote.com has been asked to send the following issue to its voters. Any
views
or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the client/author
and
do not necessarily represent those of Vote.com or its staff.

The old Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms - now with the friendlier
name of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) - is getting
involved
in the particular formulas of alcoholic malt beverages, such as Smirnoff
Ice,
which have been growing in popularity over the past several years.

To begin with, it is not clear what business the federal government has
deciding what formula a beverage company should use in its products. The
companies that have made these beverages have followed one set of rules
for
thirty years but now, TTB wants to change these rules in the middle of the
game.

Keep in mind, these proposed changes have nothing to do with alcohol
content.
This is all about flavoring. Why is the government wasting its time and
our
tax dollars meddling in this?

That's actually a load of horseshit. It's not "all about flavoring." It's
about how this stuff is made and taxed. They told us, and they told the
gummint, that this stuff was all malt-based, with just teensy bits of
distilled spirits in it, not like the spirits-based stuff in Europe. Turns
out they lied. A LOT of the alcohol comes from distilled spirits, because
it's cheap that way...and it's a LOT cheaper if it gets taxed as beer, which
has a lower rate. This is all about keeping a huge profit margin for the
companies that make this shit. "The companies that have made these beverages
have followed one set of rules for thirty years..." Forsooth: the regs are
ALWAYS changing, and they know it. This is CRAP, and the "savemyice" website
ought to tell you that. Smirnoff Ice...how do you "flavor" something to
"taste" like vodka? Stuff a bunch of rubbing alcohol in it?

As for the "extra costs" being passed to us, well, guess what? They could
take the hit of the extra costs and never notice it, because these things
are ridiculously overpriced. The margin is immense on them, just like it is
on NA beers. Oh, I weep for Smirnoff Ice, all right.

--
Lew Bryson

www.LewBryson.com
Author of "New York Breweries" and "Pennsylvania Breweries," 2nd ed., both
available at www.amazon.com
The Hotmail address on this post is for newsgroups only: I don't check it,
or respond to it. Spam away.

On 16 Oct 2003 20:04:26 GMT, c (TOM KAN PA) wrote:

[troll deleted]

Well, if I was a fence-sitter before, now I *know* I'm going to
support the proposed regulations. Thanks, TKP.

Oh, and **** Smirnoff Ice and the rest of that SHITE.
--

Nobody You Know