Casino Logic

The economy is in the worst state that it has been since The Great Depression. Unemployment is at an all time high. The government is about to go on a spending spree unparallelled in this country's history. The nation is about to triple its budget deficit as a consequence of all of the above listed statements. What can possibly be the answer to this perfect storm of economic doom and gloom?
 

Let's build some casinos!

Fresh off turning down a state Constitutional Amendment in the recent election to permit the building of a single casino and resort complex in Ohio, a new group has stepped forward to put forth a proposal for not one, but perhaps as many as eleven new casinos in the state. Penn National Gaming (which owns 19 gambling facilities in the US and Canada, including Raceway Park in Toledo), and it's partners have been holding talks with the the governor and state legislature about putting casinos in seven racetracks in the state, as well as building four new stand alone casinos.

Don't get me wrong here, I have no objection to casino gambling in Ohio and have spoken out in favor of it in the past. I simply question the logic of building gambling establishments at a time when disposable income in this country is at almost all-time low. Many restaurants are cutting back staff or closing all together because no one has the money to eat out, and the same is happening with bars. 

The auto industry is failing because nobody has the money to buy a car. Housing sales are down in spite of the lowest mortgage rates in my lifetime. Yet in spite of all of this economic doom and gloom, someone believes that we will take the last two nickels that we have left to rub together and put them in a slot machine.

I can't wait to see how the moralists and do-gooders demonize these guys. Children going hungry as the adults gamble the grocery money away. Houses going into foreclosure as their owners sit mesmerized in front of a one-armed bandit. Bankruptcy filed by irresponsible people with too little money and too easy an access to the evils of gambling. Don't look for me to speak out this time though.* 

I plan to sit idly on the sidelines this time and watch the fun. This promises to be almost as entertaining, and a good deal less expensive, than a night of Texas Hold'em.

* All promises not to speak out on a given subject are subject to change at any time, as I often have difficulty remaining silent on anything. (ask anybody who knows me...)

 

The Odds On An Ohio Casino

Once again, the issue of casino gambling is coming up in the state of Ohio as a ballot initiative and because the building of any casino in this state involves changing the state constitution, this will always be the case. Issue 6, or the My Ohio Now Amendment is a proposal for this change to the state constitution in order to build a casino near Wilmington, Ohio (between Columbus and Cincinnati) that could cost up to $600,000,000. This casino will include a hotel, convention facility, and even a golf course on its grounds. Taxes generated by this facility would be paid directly to the counties of the state of Ohio, with the percentage of revenues split according to the relative population of the each respective county. It is estimated by the potential operators of this casino that revenues could be as much as $800 million with $240 million in taxes to be split up. (Of course, these estimates were before the current financial crisis.) The claims for and against are typical. On the negative side

• Gambling is evil and must be forbidden at all costs!
• Those addicted to gambling will use money to feed their sick gambling habit instead of their families.
• The operator is from out of state and local government will have no oversight.
• Tax revenues distribution will be decided by politicians, bureaucrats, and lobbyists (though someone will have to explain to me when this is not the case).

On the positive side:

• The building of this casino will bring thousands of temporary construction jobs to Ohio
• The running of the casino will create many permanent jobs in Ohio.
• There will be tax revenue produced by the casino that will supplement the budgets of every county in the state (and any tax revenue that they can generate without taking it from me would be welcome indeed).

The most telling issues to me have also been mentioned:

• The state is already sponsoring gambling through the Lottery, and now the plethora of Keno machines.
• Those paying for much of the opposition advertising to this amendment are casino operators in Indiana and Michigan whose revenue will be negatively impacted if a casino is built in Ohio.
• Money is currently leaving the state, as those who wish to gamble take their trade to places where they can.

I am not much of a gambler these days, though I did play a little blackjack in Vegas in years past. Quite frankly I work too hard to earn my money these days to risk it (and I have a really bad poker face). I believe however, that if you want to gamble you will. I likewise believe that if such behavior is going to take place, that the state of Ohio has as much right as any to profit from it. I finally believe that anything that creates jobs, and especially the kind of service jobs that look like they have a possibility of long-term survivability, is definitely a good thing. 

I don't know if Issue 6 is the answer, as it provides for only one casino and one operator in the state. I suspect that it is not a particularly good law. I likewise suspect that Ohio is not ready for more than one casino the first time out of the gate. It may therefore be time that we take a next step into this area, admit that gambling already goes on, and get the state of Ohio into the business of casinos like all of our neighbors. Hey, at least they aren't asking for taxpayer funding to build the damn thing!