These outfits pushing casinos in Arkansas are calling themselves Arkansas Wins and Arkansas Winning Initiative Inc.
Arkansas wins? Arkansas winning? Folks, they don't build casinos by giving money to gamblers. They build casinos by taking money from gamblers. If Arkansas were to "win" too often, these would-be casinos would have to close their doors. The only way they'd stay open is if Arkansas gamblers lose, and lose often.
Let's not do this.
There's a reason so many lawmakers, Democrat and Republican, and so many state leaders, from the governor on down, oppose Issue No. 5 on the ballot next month. Not only would three casinos be opened--two in north Arkansas, one near Texarkana--but the names of the companies that will be allowed to open them have been included in No. 5's ballot language. And their owners are from out of state. Ugh. Whose idea was that?
To quote state Rep. Greg Leding of Fayetteville, who put it better than most: This proposal would carve out "a special place for private enterprise in our state constitution, not providing any kind of check on that power . . . of these businessmen [and] we also would be stripping away local control." Not to mention opening up a place near the UofA that serves booze 24 hours a day. Which might sound good for a few frat boys of a Sunday evening, but frat boys don't always know best.
The people who put together this proposal decided to include another little something in the language: These new casinos in the Natural State would be able to permit any kind of casino game permitted in Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, or Texas. Or any kind of casino games those states might come up with later. Land's sake. Do we really want to go the way of Louisiana, Mississippi or Las Vegas? Some of us saw what the riverboats on the Mississippi River looked like in the early 1990s when they were first allowed to dock at a few cities on the Mississippi side, and they haven't aged well. Do we really want 24-hour neon signs advertising a casino in the Ozarks a la Vegas? And let's not use Louisiana for a guide on anything except maybe music and food.
Call this proposal Arkansas Loses. It's the only way these out-of-state casino owners would win.
Let's vote AGAINST Issue No. 5.
Editorial on 10/10/2016