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Jan
11
Take a look at what Google will get you this morning if you search on “gambling Strickland”:
Is this a coordinated PR effort to let Ohioans know where our governor is going on the subject of the economy? of gambling? of priorities?
Of selling out?
I guess I’m not really sure how a politician does manage a turnaround of this nature so maybe this rollout is the best way. But I can guarantee you, it’s not going to be turning around my mind. And anyone who thinks that legalizing gambling is going to solve anything related to Ohio’s economy, well – I’ve got a dirt cheap piece of Mediterranean Sea-side property to sell you – in the Holy Land.
In the best scenario, the gambling interests hope that the governor works some form of their proposals into his state budget.
That’s not going to happen, a governor’s spokesman said.
One option is that the gambling industry could go through the legislature and start off by pushing electronic slot machines before moving toward table games and eventually pitching full gambling venues with attached restaurants and hotels.
In the legislature, they would meet Senate President Bill Harris, an Ashland Republican, who opposes gambling, and House Speaker Armond Budish, a Beachwood Democrat, who supports the idea. Or they could offer up a ballot proposal and hope the governor lends his support.
Harris, like the governor, said last week that while he remains opposed to gambling, he would consider it for the sake of helping Ohio’s economy. Budish took over the House speakership last week and declared that the state should consider expanding gambling to jump-start the economy.
While the governor is feeling down on his luck when it comes to the troubled state budget, gambling opponents still say that is not a legitimate excuse for him to consider slot machines and blackjack tables.
Bingo.
The last thing I have to write this morning on this topic is, click on that Google results image – see the last item on the list? It’s this:
The Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility and the Freedom Center in Delaware are the latest budget-crunch victims. The Department of Youth Services announced yesterday that they will be shut down by July, saving $24 million annually and allowing for expansion of community-based options.
Directly impacted will be 194 juvenile residents of the two centers and 331 employees who will have to look for jobs at six other state youth facilities, in adult state prisons or in the private sector.
…
The move to close the two facilities came quickly, Strickland said after attending Statehouse swearing-in ceremonies for Attorney General Richard Cordray and Treasurer Kevin Boyce. He said such decisions are inevitable because of the severity of the crisis.
In response to a question, Strickland said that while he remains opposed to bringing casino gambling to Ohio, he would be foolish to ignore any proposal that could help solve the state’s financial crunch.
…
“This just doesn’t add up, that you would close facilities at the same time you’re hiring staff,” said Andy Douglas, executive director of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, which represents 1,274 youth-services employees.
“We believed this past year, as did DYS, that the reduction of overcrowding was in the best interest of youth and staff. Now, they’re taking a step backward by closing facilities.”
Don’t you just love how that’s thrown in? Juxtapose the tossing out of youths in detention with the breaking down of Strickland’s resolve against gambling as an economic panacea. Lovely. Not to mention taking actions that fly in the face of report after report about the overcrowding already in existence.
Talk about making deals with devils. Include the prison construction industry and the new detention facilities that aren’t even built yet.
Obama wanted a New Deal-style infrastructure program to get people to work, but bricks and mortar gambling facilities and prisons isn’t what I think he meant.
For more on the economic mirage of gambling, read here.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:29 am January 11th, 2009 in Business, Cleveland+, Debates, Economy, employment, Gambling, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Social Issues, Ted Strickland, Youth
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3 Responses to “Gaggle of gambling gab about Strickland’s own turnaround & turnabout on youth”
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Excellent post, Jill. The Google search page looks like an advertisement to me. “STRICKLAND FOR SALE!” the ad says. No doubt, he wants this ad displayed wherever casino tycoons are bound to notice.
It seems that Strickland’s moral outrage has tempered since he can no longer afford the vast increases in social welfare programs.
No mention of the overwhelming negative impact on the individual citizens from a gambling establishment, and the negative economic conditions it creates (swallows up real capital that could go toward local economies and bolster small businesses struggling to survive the meltdown in GM and other industries.
It figures, though, that this so-called man of the cloth has ethics that are conditional, and can modify his views based on present circumstance (he’s hoping he is as immune to criticism as Obama seems to be right now – lets rush into something before we know where it will lead, because in their minds doing nothing means losing an opportunity to exert greater social control– ie controlling the minds of voters