Why shouldn’t brewing be a fundamental role of government? We read today that five or more craft breweries will open in Wilmington. To combat this, Asheville and Buncombe County may need to raise taxes to lure more potential brewers to the western portion of the state. If you want to argue that redistributions distort the economy and introduce inefficiencies, you’re a racist. Consider the evidence:

“The brewery community is a very open and community-oriented industry, and the craft brewing industry has been involved in revitalizing areas in cities across the country,” said Mike Barlas, whose Flytrap Brewing is under construction at Fourth and Walnut streets. “They get support from local people and thrive in areas where businesses would have a hard time surviving.”

Like encouraging gay business, encouraging beer business makes the economic multipliers that were already out the wazoo go like this:

And so, is it any surprise that, by way of the consent agenda, the Buncombe County Commissioners are expected to:

officially request that the US Food and Drug Administration exempt craft breweries and the farmers who feed wet grain from any new regulations?