Feeding Their Addiction

Have you been keeping up with the legislative session in Frankfort?  In a nutshell they have come face to face with the reality that any number of government funded programs will have to be cut because there is insufficient revenue to keep them going.  But  just in time, the pusher man arrives to feed their addiction.

An economic-impact study conducted for Kentucky’s pro-casino groups projects that eight racetrack casinos would produce $1.14billion in income in 2015, the first year all expanded gambling sites would be fully operational.The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce released the report Monday. It was conducted by Spectrum Gaming Group, a New Jersey firm that specializes in casino industry studies. An executive summary said the consultants were hired by a “consortium of Kentucky horseracing interests.” [NKy.com]

For legislators this is like a cocaine addict finding a free pound of powder behind the seat of a rented truck.  I can just hear them saying now "Let the party begin".

But here's the problem.  If you give the legislature money to spend, they find ways to spend it.  This results in any number of newly created expenditures which brings to mind Ronald Reagan's quote that the closest thing on earth to eternal life is a government program.  That is where they get hooked.

If we get expanded gambling and then our politicians find new ways to spend all that money, we are at the mercy of the casino interests forever.  They could threaten to pull out of Kentucky, lobby for more favorable treatment and since they would then be the source of a large portion of the budget, they would be able to exercise considerable control over our government, smothering out citizen voices given enough time.

There is only one sure fire, 100% guaranteed way to escape addiction: never start taking the drug in the first place.

We must first elect enough people to the legislature that we can trust will use  any new source of revenue to pay existing bills and then, once that has happened, use the new source of revenue to cut the old source of revenue by reducing taxes.

Unless and until we get enough of those kind of folks in office, gambling revenues should be avoided like narcotics.

Comments

[Maysville admirer]

You are spot on with your analysis Mr. Carey. I hope the Legislators are reading your blog.