Arkansas Blog

"But be clear: If it turns out as legislative leaders intended, the state will soon be issuing permits for all manner of little mini-casinos all over Arkansas, with multiple ways to lose your money -- keno, poker, horse race game wagering, Powerball, scratchoffs (up to $20 a ticket, sounds like) and who knows what all once the "intentionally" flexible law is fully implemented."

Max, I doubt that a majority of the legislators that voted for this bill expected it to be anything other than convenience store scratch offs and perhaps a weekly Powerball drawing. You give them too much credit for thinking things through.

jrb, SOMEBODY thought it through. And they weren't talking about it. Intentionally and carefully. What a great opportunity for a newspaper investigation.

Let's all celebrate as Arkansas joins the ranks of those who tax the stupid and hopeless while creating another revenue stream for political patronage/graft/waste/(fill in the blank).

--(I've played. It drains your wallet, but fast.) --

Kinda like the stock market?

No one makes anyone play the lottery. It's voluntary. No one makes anyone play the stock market. It's voluntary. So, what's the big fuss about?

Max, this "keno" issue was in the earlies drafts of the bill - http://www.arkansas.gov/house/MBM078.pdf - and was openly discussed by me at the joint meeting of the Senate State Agencies/House Rules Committees on Wednesday, February 18 long before the bill was in its finished form. This was not hidden or done behind closed doors as you're claiming. I guess transparency only works when you're paying attention, huh? This bill couldn't have been drafted in a more public fashion. We were very clear that the Lottery Commission would have discretion to decide on their own which types of games to offer. I respect your disapproval of Keno, but your claim that this was done out of sight is inaccurate.

ARK. BLOG: Discussed at a committee meeting. Big deal. While all around public officials who pushed this were answering critics about unforseen forms of gambling by saying it would just be an old-fashioned lottery. And, if you intended keno, why didn't you say so, rather than do the little rope-a-dope with a flexible repealer that leaves interpretation open to a roster of games too numerous to list or contemplate. YOU knew what you were doing? How many others did? How hard did anyone try to advertise it? Did you talk about poker? About horse racing games? About roulette? About sports wagering? To name but a few of the things for which your little ol' repealer could open the door? I don't think so.

Months ago, people predicted the early hires of the commissioin and other key developments. So far, that's holding true, along with many little surprises like this. I'd be disappointed if I was surprised.

What do you bet some people are already lined up to open keno parlors?

I voted against the lottery. Not because Jerry "cocks" told me to do so, but because I knew precisely what would occur. The next scandal will be when we realize all the folks hired at this new corruption bucket will a. be related to legislators b. be patrons of legislators c. be lobbyists or former legislators.

ANY new government agency/endeavor is simply a cash grab. The ones best poised to grab said cash are the ones who wrote the laws authorizing it to be spent in the first place.

I can't wait to see the educational benefits we reap. I'll bet we reap a little less than we sow.

"Jerry Cox was right."

Wow. Coming from Max that has to be a first.

Calm, I'm with you on reaping less than we sow.

The ghouls at UCA and others at other schools are salivating like werewolves over the prospect of a bunch of Arkie kids with lottery scholarships lining up to get into said schools.

Light doesn't travel fast enough to measure the rapidity with which every stinking one of them will jack their tuition rates by the exact amount of individual lottery scholarships. Sound doesn't travel fast enough to measure the speed with which these colleges will then divert toward third-rate football programs the exact amount that they reap in new lottery scholarship thievery.

Someone needs to close any loopholes in this or otherwise clear the air - and quickly - to ensure that we get a lottery (by the conventional definition) and not a door wide open to any and all gambling that can be squeezed into vague definitions/interpretations (intentional or not). Otherwise, these dear "leaders" will remain subject to the same verbal (and hopefully electoral) repercussions they have deserved for a long time as a result of their squeaking through what they *really* had in mind when they asked for the inch but were ready to take the mile.
I am not at all opposed to gambling, but lets have a dialogue about it and make a reasoned and open decision about it...not try to squeak it through a loophole or via back room deals. People, this is OUR state, not the legislators...they were just hired to do a job. Lets make them do it.
Ernie P., that goes for you too. You can find some fickle friends in the legislature from time to time, but remember that the one constant is that you (and they) are supposed to serve the people of the State of Arkansas. Serve us well. Please.

For governments and legitimate government programs, as for individuals, the principle is that there are no free meals. Reread Emerson's essay on "Compensation." Arkansas could reasonably tax, for college scholarships or any other legitimate public program, capital gains of those who choose to participate in the stock market or those who choose to take lottery chances in Missouri or daily double tickets at Oaklawn; but the state should not be operating, promoting, advertising, or otherwise encouraging citizens to seek income from those endeavors in lieu of fair and (hopefully) progressive taxation. The proposal for the state to socialize and operate an amusement industry as a means of tax avoidance was dishonest from the git-go. Corruption follows as the night the day. Yeah, I know: "But, Daddy, EVERYBODY does it!!"

"Jerry Cox was right."

Jesus...I spit my coffee all over the keyboard! These words should have never been written! They undo 27,483 Jerry Cox slap downs that we've worked so hard to put into the archives of the AT blog for our great grandchildren to read someday in the distant future. This is like feeding 8 year old boys to Michael Jackson.....this is like complimenting Hitler....this is like a promo to get people to try venereal warts. I must hasten to wash my eyeballs and my hands.

Gambling a little bit is like FK'ing a little bit. You can't protect someone with a serious gambling problem. Fortunately, according to what I can Google this morning, 1 to 4% of Americans have a gambling addiction, problem..whatever you want to call it. I'm sorry they do, but I also feel sorry for people with a club foot. And I'm glad the numbers aren't 10% or 40%...thank you America for keeping it in the single digits.

But some people will have a problem with anything ever invented. I saw a 400 lb woman walking with her backpack and a bottle of water yesterday when my thermometer read 102 degrees, bless her heart....I'd rather have a gambling addiction rather than fight with food 24-7.

If the state winds up making too much money because the general population of Arkansas acts like 3 year olds at Toys R Us and goes broke buying lottery tickets or betting on the fastest swine, then the state can do something nice like give some of the money back to people ignoring Jerry Cox's warnings and ruining their lives. I'm with Cato.....who'll refund the money lost on the stock market? What about people who paid for Axel Rose's last CD? Where do I sign up to get back my tax money wasted on the war in Iraq?

I'm not cottoning to the Cherokee Casino, though I will give it a few more tries. I will spend 5 bucks per week on the Arkansas Lottery until I start forgetting to do it. But I believing in giving the people what they want. I need the state of Arkansas to protect me from Oklahoma, give my kids some colleges to attend, and pave a lot of roads. But the last thing I need at this point is a State Daddy to protect me from myself. Live Free or Die is a hell of a good motto and I'm sticking with it.

DBI, that was outstanding. Very nice.
All I care about is transparency in the process. I'm all for gambling. I love gambling. Heck, I'll bet you $20 I won't make it to my Gamblers Anonymous meeting!
But really, transparency, open government and real decisions reflecting the actual will of the people, not loophole exploitation or back room deals. That's all. And if it all ultimately means keno for everybody, then I say Keno For Everybody!!!

So what does lottery guru Bill Halter have to say about Keno and the other games the lottery legislation apparently authorized? Surely he knew it was in the legislation. For the past year he has been all lottery, all the time. Not pointing a finger at him but he should share some of the criticism or glory for the lottery law. What say you Gov. Halter?

DBI-- The truth can show up anywhere from anyone, so there's nothing wrong with Max saying "Jerry Cox was right." Sounds to me like you're more concerned with a political movement winning than you are with the actual truth being told. Shame on you.

>>But in the political world of the lottery, where the shots are all called by -- not the legislature but by a handful of ruling legislators -- the law is an irrelevant ass.<<

Let's see. You want to either
(a) extend their term limits
or
(b) remove term limits.

That it?

What makes you think doing (a) or (b) would improve matters?
If your criticism is to be believed, and it's valid, then term limits play a vital role.
.

Being in opposition to lottery and legalized casinos for Arkansas from the sociological impacts rather than religious reasons, I will just point out again that the news cycles since the lottery commission was announced have been ODTAA, some minor, some not. (ODTAA is One D** Thing After Another, google it) for the less literate in our blogosphere.

In any case, (ITYS) again and I am waiting for the next revelation . . .