I'm working (volunteering) on a campaign for Maryland State Representative, and he's come out against slots.
The race in his district (I'm not giving his name until I get this clear) is in the primary, and at least one seat is open because the state senator is going for congress, and one of the state reps (at least) is going for state senate.
Anyway, my guy is solidly anti-slots.
While opinion is evenly split in MD, Democrats are against it by more 60%, so it's a win in the primary.
I got assigned a little research project, come up with anti-slot factoids, particularly as regards slots and corruption.
I know that there have been corruption problems on some level in West Virginia, Deleware, and PARTICULARLY in Pennsylvania (the Mayor of Erie, whose name I cannot recall was arrested or indicted).
So could you all please get me stories, preferably with links about slots related corruption?
(more below fold)
Why be against slots?
- They are placing them exclusively in poor minority neighborhoods. (They want to put it in Pimlico, around black and Jewish neighborhoods, and PG county, while avoiding the state fairgrounds in lily white Timonium, where the facilities and transportation access are better.)
- They reinforce the notion that taxes are a penalty for immoral behavior, not dues to participate in society.
- They are a bad deal generally, with poorly managed racetracks (Like Pimlico) getting more money than they deserve, and the states less.
Also, handing "Bad Hair Bob" Erlich a win on this is just bad politics.