Container Top
Homes   Jobs   Cars   Shopping
Search

Events Calendar

EVENT SEARCH:

In This Section


Most Read Stories


Blogs:


Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens

The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook

Patrick McManamon:
For your Saturday entertainment …

Akron Zips:
Hitchens leads Zips in second-half comeback

Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster

Cleveland Browns:
Robiskie, Harrison inactive

Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 47-13

Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad

Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight

All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge

Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?

Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies

See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic

Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED

Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!

Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.

Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall

HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron

Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go

Against the odds

Even a gambling operation opposes Issue 6

Opponents of the latest proposal to bring casino gambling to Ohio have an unexpected ally. Penn National Gaming, the nation's third-largest gambling company, supports a group called the ''No on Issue 6 Committee'' to fight the gambling issue approved last week for the Nov. 4 ballot.

What irks the Pennsylvania-based firm is that Issue 6, a proposed amendment to the Ohio constitution, would grant a monopoly to another gambling operation, Lakes Entertainment of Minnesota. Lakes wants to build a massive casino complex near Wilmington in struggling Clinton County.

Penn National, of course, worries about its own survival. It owns Toledo's Raceway Park and a riverboat casino in Indiana, near Cincinnati.

Still, Penn has a point. Issue 6 is even worse than a similar ballot initiative two years ago, which would have opened the door to seven racetrack owners and two Cleveland developers to operate electronic slot machines, with no competitive bidding.

This battle between gambling interests should serve to remind Ohioans of the larger stakes. The two companies are fighting so hard because they have so much to gain at the expense of Ohioans.

The committee backing Issue 6, MyOhioNow, makes the point in its television ads that gambling dollars are flowing out of Ohio and into the coffers of neighboring states. What backers don't say is that most of the profits from their casino would go to Minnesota. And the jobs here? Relatively low-paying, dead-end service jobs.

Further, there is no guarantee that a 30 percent tax on gross receipts (less payouts) would generate the $240 million MyOhioNow projects, with the lure that most of the money would flow back to Ohio counties. The rate is a maximum, and could be adjusted by the legislature. If tax-free Indian gaming comes in, the tax burden on the Clinton County facility would drop to zero.

Even if the money flows, the state, with pressing budget problems, could easily reduce local government funds to counties. Voters will likely miss the distinction and the need to raise taxes. After all, many believe the Ohio Lottery fixed school funding.

Ohioans have rejected casino-style gambling three times since 1990. Those in opposition, gathered under the ''Vote No Casinos Committee,'' correctly emphasize the social impact, the expanded number of Ohioans addicted to gambling driving up the social cost of dealing with families driven into debt.

Is Issue 6 a tool for economic development? Yes, for the casino owner. Otherwise, it's a loser.

Opponents of the latest proposal to bring casino gambling to Ohio have an unexpected ally. Penn National Gaming, the nation's third-largest gambling company, supports a group called the ''No on Issue 6 Committee'' to fight the gambling issue approved last week for the Nov. 4 ballot.

Get the full article here.


Story tools

Email  Email   Print  Print   Save  Save   Reprint  Reprint   Popular  Most Popular   Reprint  Subscribe

Share this story

AddThis Social Bookmark Button


justsayyes

Posted 11:28 AM, 10/02/2008

What exactly are you thinking? Do you people personally have relatives that are problem gamblers? This will bring jobs into this state and will create a fun atmosphere. You seem to be under the elusion that casinos are forcing people to come and play. People play for ENTERTAINMENT. Every time this issue comes up this whole paper is SO conservative. We need gaming in Ohio.
















Most Commented Stories