Quote:
Originally Posted by Derwood
The Dispatch had several pages this morning on Issue 3 (including op-eds from several other Ohio newspapers).
It seems to boil down to this:
PRO - New jobs, keep gambling spending in state, boost to tax base for state
CONS - Constitutional amendments should not be used to give people monopolies on business, boost to economy would be marginal (as people would shift their discretionary spending away from other things in order to gamble), new jobs would be low paying/temporary, some Ohioans would still gamble out of state.
The thing that stuck out to me the most was the first "con". I absolutely agree that Constitutional amendments should not be written in order to benefit very specific people/businesses. This sets a terrible precedent. It's also telling that in one of Ohio's previous attempts to legalize state gambling, Penn Gaming campaigned AGAINST the amendment (because the proposed casino would provide competition with on of their Indiana based casinos). Now Penn Gaming is FOR the amendment, as they are one of two groups (Dan Gilbert being the other) who get exclusive rights to open casinos per the amendment.
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The only negative I have with it is it is an amendment... other than that... obviously no problem and that 1 issue won't stop me for voting for it.
Again, just because they lead the charge... it doesn't mean that Penn and Gilbert will 100% get those casinos. The commission has the right to license and regulate... so they could theoretically do a double cross and license someone else entirely.
I do understand limiting the number of casinos though. Too many and you'll end up with bankrupt eyesores like in Detroit. I'd rather just have one super nice one in Cleveland than a string of low end dives. (Not that I'll go into one, but the nicer it is the more tourist money that might be spent.)
As for Toledo getting one, I see it going somewhere by Sandusky and Cedar Point getting involved somehow.
Cincy's will probably be the last built and end up by Mason's King's Island (which is owned by Cedar Fair, CP's parent company) and them getting involved somehow.
In Cleveland, I see Harrah's opening it by Thistledown, which I think would be a mistake. They need to truly develop that lakefront and make it into something nice and pleasant for tourists. This will be the first one built.
I see the one in Columbus ending up being owned or operated by Jacobs and out by Scioto Downs. The reason I say this is Jacobs and his ties with the Dispatch owning Wolfe family and the Plain Dealer will eventually help Gilbert and Penn politically.
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