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EDITORIAL: Another Bad Idea: Second Slot-Machine Proposal is No Better Than the First One

Posted on: Sunday, 9 April 2006, 18:00 CDT

By The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Apr. 9--Now two groups are pushing video slot machines for Ohio. And both proposals come wrapped in the banner of free college educations for children of working families.

But these competing ballot initiatives hardly are driven by an altruistic desire to see young Ohioans succeed, to be the savior of the state's future.

No, the gobs of money that will be sunk into the coming showdown reveal the true motive. Everyone who pushes vice is drooling at the prospect of cornering the gambling market in Ohio.

The Education Yes Committee, bankrolled by Penn National Gaming Inc., proposes 5,000 slot machines for Ohio's seven horse racetracks. It promises 32 percent of the proceeds for college scholarships.

That just happens to top the 30 percent of slots profits for scholarships promised by the "Learn and Earn Ballot Issue." That language was submitted last week by the Ohio Legacy Fund, paid for by bigwig Cleveland developers Jeff Jacobs and Albert Ratner.

Under Learn and Earn, slots would be installed at the seven racetracks and in three other Ohio locations, two in Cleveland and one in Cincinnati. If the initiative passed, four years later, residents in those counties would vote on whether to allow full-service casinos.

Gambling is not the kind of "help" Ohio needs to pull out of its economic slump. The state needs businesses that increase Ohio's prosperity by producing jobs, products and helpful services.

Gambling subtracts wealth rather than increasing it. It intentionally preys on human weaknesses to line the pockets of gambling promoters. Meanwhile, the increased crime, bankruptcies and devastated families take a toll on everyone, even those who avoid slot machines.

Ohioans should not be fooled by euphemisms and pie-in-the-sky promises from those who stand to gain the most from these initiatives.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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NASDAQ-NMS:PENN,

Source: The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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