Another weekend is upon us, and yet another of my efforts has made its way onto the pages of the Toledo Free Press. "Issue 3 Is Long On Tax, Short On Explanations" is my manifesto as to why the .75% income tax issue for the Toledo Public Schools should be voted down.
Since the May 4th vote is only a few weeks away, perhaps it will cause a few of Toledo's voters to think twice.
But as usual there's a lot more in the TFP this weekend, including a Kristen Rapin piece on Mayor Bell's first 100 days in office that you will undoubtedly find of greater interest and a piece by Michael Miller on Professional Journalism, the competition, and the use of social networking.
I listened with great interest when representatives of Penn National were interviewed on Monday on Brian Wilson's show on 1370 WSPD AM. Because I have been rather vocal on the subject, writing columns on the subject for The Toledo Free Press, calling in on WSPD, and commenting on some of the local blogs; I wanted to make sure that I had the facts straight and understood the issue before election day. I was also curious to hear what those most desiring this Issue's passage had to say on the subject.
I urge you to follow this link to a podcast of this interview on the WSPD website.
I attempted to listen with an open mind, and here is what I got from the interview.
- Yes passage of this issue will provide Penn National with a monopoly on casino gambling, but only in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo (three of these probably being the best markets in the state).
- Anyone else who wants a casino can build one, but not in these four cities. They have only to approach the state legislature to build one in another city like Dayton or Youngstown however.
- These casinos will bring money and employment wherever they go, with jobs galore and tax revenues to help bailout the budgeting process in every bloated city government where they will be (for those of you not paying attention, this is sarcasm).
- Additional money will get funneled to the state, which likewise still shows no sign of realistic budgeting. Gambling will therefore help to prop up their equally inflated spending practices.
- Local contractors will be used and a "fair wage" will be paid to all workers. This is what is commonly known as a sop to Democratic, heavily unionized jurisdictions to insure either their silence or their active cooperation through jobs at union scale.
The bottom line here is that sure, this issue will create a constitutional monopoly on gambling in these four cities, but doing so is OK because Penn National has put so much effort and money into getting the issue on the ballot, let alone passed. In other words, a bad law is OK in their book as long as it is properly bought and paid for. (This, for those of you who have not read their history, is the way the the railroads were built to join east to west in this country during the 19th Century. This was not particularly one of this country's shining hours.)
Issue 3 may not be the best law for providing casino gambling in Ohio, but there is little doubt when listening to those who would benefit most from it, that it is "The Best Law Money Can Buy".
I have once again put my two cents (not sense) in for this weekend's Toledo Free Press, this week weighing in on State Issue 3, which will be on the ballot in November.
Being a rather strict Constitutionalist, I am not a terribly big fan of the use of a Constitutional Amendment this way, and I go into a bit of just why that is.
This weekend's TFP is rather unique on the subject of Issue 3, in that the Publisher Tom Pounds (who I respect greatly) has weighed in on the other side of the issue from me; while Editor In Chief Michael Miller (another person on that respect list) slides a rather interesting and extensive piece right in the middle of the road on the subject.
It's not often (at least I've never heard of it), that you see a newspaper do this kind of thing.
There's a lot going on in the rest of the TFP, and the only way you are going to know what's going on in the Glass City this week is to give it a read this weekend.
(Just as an FYI, there are different versions of my column in the print and electronic version this week. The print version went in a while back, but Michael Miller allowed me to update the column for the electronic version.)
Another weekend is upon us, and yet another of my efforts has made its way onto the pages of the Toledo Free Press. "Issue 3 Is Long On Tax, Short On Explanations" is my manifesto as to why the .75% income tax issue for the Toledo Public Schools should be voted down. 
