I have been a fan of Sen. Voinovich ever since he led the fight against the riverboat casinos.
However, he has it WRONG when it comes to advising to "doing it" like PA. We did NOT auction off our licenses. They were given away at a price that the casinos “could live with.”
The citizens and even elected officials have been held hostage by the gambling interests from the beginning of the PennsylVEGAS casino saga. Our slots law was pushed through over Fourth of July weekend in 2004 by taking a good 33 line bill on background checks for people who work at the tracks. They crossed all of that out except the title and number, added 144 pages of AMENDMENTS and dumped 14 casinos throughout the Commonwealth. There were NO public hearings, NO public scrutiny, and NO PUBLIC INPUT!
There is much, much more to this nightmare-like real story and it is now a very shameful and ongoing part of our history.
PA is the poster child for all the reasons NOT TO EVER LEGALIZE ANY GAMBLING.
The arrogant, monopolistic gambling interests have become even more demanding. Their current whine is for adding table games. They have also convinced some legislators that letting our taxpayer funded and supported institutions of higher education should be casino colleges.
I believe that you can smell our PA stench all over Ohio. If you are wise, you will not let them get a foothold in your state and you will even fight to rollback legalized gambling.
Why oppose state Issue 3? Voinovich counts the ways
I have been a fan of Sen. Voinovich ever since he led the fight against the riverboat casinos.
However, he has it WRONG when it comes to advising to "doing it" like PA. We did NOT auction off our licenses. They were given away at a price that the casinos “could live with.”
The citizens and even elected officials have been held hostage by the gambling interests from the beginning of the PennsylVEGAS casino saga.
Our slots law was pushed through over Fourth of July weekend in 2004 by taking a good 33 line bill on background checks for people who work at the tracks. They crossed all of that out except the title and number, added 144 pages of AMENDMENTS and dumped 14 casinos throughout the Commonwealth. There were NO public hearings, NO public scrutiny, and NO PUBLIC INPUT!
There is much, much more to this nightmare-like real story and it is now a very shameful and ongoing part of our history.
PA is the poster child for all the reasons NOT TO EVER LEGALIZE ANY GAMBLING.
The arrogant, monopolistic gambling interests have become even more demanding. Their current whine is for adding table games. They have also convinced some legislators that letting our taxpayer funded and supported institutions of higher education should be casino colleges.
I believe that you can smell our PA stench all over Ohio. If you are wise, you will not let them get a foothold in your state and you will even fight to rollback legalized gambling.
October 17, 2009 at 4:43 p.m. permalink suggest removal