Here's another symptom:
The intimidating tone of state Rep. Angelo "Skip" Saviano on Dec. 15 betrayed his frustration with communities that, by the scores, say they want no part of legalized video gambling. The setting was a meeting of an Illinois legislative committee and Saviano had a captive listener, Michael Fries, general counsel to the Illinois Gaming Board.And so Rep. Saviano is part of an effort to tax those local counties and municipalities that have opted out of video gambling, to make them pay anyway the amount that the state reckons that video gambling would have generated.
Saviano: "Some of the stuff you read in the newspapers and in the editorials, we feel that certain Gaming Board members or their designees are talking to them, giving them information, to stall this (rollout of video gambling). And we have an immense amount of pressure on us to get this capital bill up and running. So if you could relay a message. ... Could they just keep their mouths shut and get the job done? Cuz we need, we need this capital bill. We need it for our schools, we need it for everybody else. And for them to keep fueling the fire with the newspapers trying to get communities out of this is, is a crime."
Fries didn't cower: "I personally am not aware of any board member that is, that is doing that."
"Well you never would," Saviano retorted. "But they're there."
Thus does the bullying in favor of video gambling unwittingly warn communities that haven't yet opted out: Act while you still can. Who knows what the proponents will dream up next.
•••
The desperation to jam video gambling down Illinoisans' throats is getting ugly. Saviano's little rant to a Gaming Board staffer is just one part of a backlash by proponents of this scourge: They know video gambling could be toxic to legislators who voted for it. They're embarrassed by the number of counties and municipalities opting out. Most of all, they and their squadrons of gambling lobbyists fear that with each new opt-out, momentum to kill legalized video gambling will grow. [Emphasis added.]
Oh, I almost forgot to mention. Rep. Saviano is a Republican! And not only is he a state representative, but he's a member of the Republican State Central Committee. When we have RINO's like this not only in the party, but running the party, it's no wonder the GOP is in such piss-poor shape.
Fortunately, Mr. Saviano is not only up for re-election to the SCC, but he has a good conservative opponent: Rosanna Pulido. Here's hoping.
3 comments:
Paul, Won't go into details, but here in Iowa there are some similar problems at the state level of the Republican party. Very fustrating.
Paul: No disrespect directed toward you, but I have long maintained that the Republican Party is as much to blame for the problems in this country as the Democrats are. The Republican Party is not the solution to our nation’s ills. Good, strong, Conservative people can bring this country back from the brink.
Arby, I can't dispute you, the Republican Party, as it now stands, shares a great deal of the responsibility for our nation's woes.
Conservative people are certainly the solution, but the they're going to have to use the Republican Party as their tool to achieve the work that must be done, which means that first we have to take back our party.
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