Putting the state on the take is no way to regulate gambling

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: September 14th, 2008 12:57 AM (PDT)

News first broke in June that tribes were spending big to help Gregoire and other Democrats get elected this year. Nothing really unusual about that. But the timing was bad, given that the governor had nixed a revenue-sharing arrangement that could have cost the tribes millions.

It might have been a scandal in the making – had Gregoire’s opponent Dino Rossi or his supporters been able to produce any evidence that she was on the take. The fact that they haven’t hasn’t stopped them from digging in and not letting up.

The latest in their summer-long assault is an ad campaign blasting Gregoire for not cutting the state in on the tribes’ gaming action. It comes courtesy of the Republican Governors Association, an organization that happens to get big donations from non-Indian gaming interests that would no doubt like to see the tribes take it in the shorts.

Rossi’s campaign complains that Gregoire didn’t negotiate the best deal for taxpayers and says revenue sharing should remain an option. But can you imagine what kind of deal would be negotiated by a governor whose pet programs depended on the state’s cut of gambling winnings? Revenue sharing is a good idea only if you want government beholden to casinos and their pursuit of ever higher profits.

Next time Rossi is in Pierce County, he should stop by Lakewood, where city government has become addicted to gambling revenues. City leaders are now frantically trying to figure out what they’ll do if fed-up citizens succeed in banning casinos.

People can criticize Gregoire for taking tribal cash; we did when the story was first reported. They can question whether she could have negotiated lower limits on tribal gaming, as we did too.

They can even bemoan the interference of special interests that are flooding the race with millions of dollars to the benefit of both candidates without adding anything of real substance to the debate.

But this business about whether the state was right to forgo revenue sharing is a dead-end argument.

No one can legitimately say that he or she opposes the expansion of gambling while on the other hand supporting an arrangement for government to get a cut of the misery.

On the Web

To see the latest ads attacking Gov. Chris Gregoire for the tribal gaming compact, go to the Inside the Editorial Page blog at blogs.thenewstribune.com/oped.

Originally published: September 14th, 2008 12:57 AM (PDT)