When it comes to feasting on bargains, piecemeal is probably better than no meal at all.

Like many Wisconsin residents, we have long lamented the bite that the state's anachronistic "minimum markup law" takes out of the wallets of consumers.

So we got a bit of cheer last week when a state Assembly committee endorsed a bill to exempt drug sales from that law.

There's some broad-based backing for the legislation that would allow big box stores like Walmart, Target and Kmart from whacking prices on dozens of drugs. According to news stories last week, Walmart's $4 prescription offer alone could save state consumers $25 million a year. Under the markup law those drugs now cost consumers $9 per prescription.

This is not a new battle, of course. There have been multiple efforts in the Legislature to repeal the minimum markup law, mainly as it relates to gasoline sales.

Finally, in February, a federal judge ruled that Wisconsin's Unfair Sales Act, as it is formally called, was unconstitutional and a violation of federal trade laws. State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen followed up by saying he would no longer enforce it.

Alas, state drivers have yet to see a penny of relief at the pump. The Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association appealed the decision. The outcome of that fight isn't expected until next year when the appeals court weighs in. That's a decision that, presumably, could affect all the other general merchandise that is covered by the markup law and not just gasoline.

In the meantime, the tales of consumer bargains gone begging in Wisconsin continue to mount. Last month saw the start of a price war on books among Walmart, Target and Amazon.com. Elsewhere the prices of new or soon-to-be-released books plummeted to $9 or $10. But Wisconsin? Sorry, Charlie, the minimum markup law stopped Walmart and Target from shipping the books to customers here.

Too often those who oppose dumping the minimum markup law argue that would ultimately drive small retailers from the market and then the large stores would raise their prices - and hurt consumers. That argument ignores the fact that there are laws against predatory pricing and anti-trust laws that fight against monopolies - laws that can be enforced by both the federal and state government and by civil suits.

And those "scare" arguments neglect to mention that those phantom damages against consumers are just that - phantoms, while each and every month that goes by Wisconsin consumers pay higher prices ordered by the markup laws.

In these hard economic times, particularly, the Legislature should act so that bargains are not against the law.