Maryland Slot Referendum Could Save Poor Spending By Government

The state of Maryland is in tough times economically much like other states in the country. Voters, however, have the opportunity to help with some of the financial problems by voting on a referendum for the addition of slot machine gambling.

Maryland's governor, Peter Franchot revealed on Wednesday that the state had misjudged what they would collect for this fiscal year by $432 million. That is not a small miscalculation.

While he blamed state legislators for not properly addressing the state budget in a special session devoted specifically for that purpose, he, being the governor, will ultimately have to take responsibility for the state's actions.

He is not in favor of the slot referendum in any way. he feels that it will only serve out of state gambling interests. He has taken the vanilla opposition stance to slot gambling of the gambling creating more crime, traffic and bankruptcy's.

The bankruptcy angle is a particularly interesting one. Adding slots would only increase the amount of jobs that are available in the state, and that, in turn, would eliminate bankruptcy's instead of causing them.

Crime is a basic argument against expanded gambling, but there is no evidence to back up that claim. Many states have expanded their gambling laws and have proven that crime is not a side effect that comes with the expanded gambling.

Perhaps Franchot is looking for reasons to keep his state financially strapped, in which case, opposing the slot referendum is a good idea.

September 10, 2008
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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