However, each and every casino initiative we get in this state is nothing more than a real estate cartel masked in a gambling statute.
And here we have another one coming down the pike; making it number 6 or 7........
Now here's my beef with these deals.Supporters of an initiative to bring casino gambling to Ohio want to take their case to the voters.
Petitions will be filed Friday asking that the Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan be placed on the November ballot.
The plan is a proposal for an amendment to the Ohio constitution that would allow casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.
They argue that casino gambling has the potential to bring up to 20,000 jobs to the state, as well as more than half a billion dollars in tax revenue.
Why can't Lorain, Canton, Akron, Youngstown, Marietta, my home town of Lancaster, Springfield, Dayton, Athens, Portsmouth, etc. have a casino?
Why is it OK for these other cities to suck revenue from outlying communities for benefit of the four "chosen" cities? Why can't Nelsonville Ohio have a shot at building a casino if it deems that they could use the jobs.
And how about the states race tracks where authorized gamblig activity is already zoned and taking place? Why can't Beulah Park, Scioto Downs, River Down, Thistledown et al have gambling in their establishments?
Instead, what we get is a half ass attempt to line the pockets of some rich guys who own the land these casinos are allowed to inhabit. Of course, no one in the rest of the states want to support these bills because they get no benefit out of them.
When will anyone in the state legislature take the initiative and write this law the way it should? After all, isn't that their job?
More.....
2 comments:
Freaking right on! Great post!
I posed two questions by way of email to spokespersons from "Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan," who had offered to respond to inquiries.
My two questions were these:
Question: If the casino proposal represents a plan for Ohio's jobs and growth, why just cherry pick 4 locations?
Question: If America is, by its nature, intended to be a land of opportunity and free enterprise, and if Ohio voters favor legalization of casinos, why limit competition by creating a casino cartel, as your proposal intends, instead of allowing anyone to open up, own, and operate casinos wherever the zoning of Ohio's communities permit them?
I submitted the questions back on June 11th. I've received three communications from them since, but so far, the answers weren't included in any of those communications . . . only an assurance that there would be answers at some point in the future. If I receive the answers to the questions, I'll post them at my blog.
What do you predict? Answers? No answers? If answers, what do you anticipate those answers will be?
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