Dave Berry of the Bolivar Herald-Free Press writes about his position on Prop A:
On Proposition A, the casino gambling issue, my vote will be a somewhat reluctant “yes.”
I
am not a casino gambler. I’ve dabbled in it, but I don’t enjoy doing it
or seeing the effect it has on some people. However, I do know many who
can both enjoy it and control themselves.
If I had my way,
casino gambling would exist in only a couple of places in the country,
where it would be an adventure getting there. Missouri nor any
adjoining state would be one of those places. We would find different
ways to help our schools.
But the casinos are with us. Even if
we didn’t have our own, our neighbors would still have them. We would
still have the problems related to our own residents crossing borders
to do what they are going to do; we just wouldn’t have the benefits.
Proposition
A will enable our casinos to compete fairly with those in bordering
states, by dropping the loss limits that exist only here. That is most
important in Kansas City, where new development on the Kansas side is
expected to siphon millions of dollars from Missouri casinos, and
consequently Missouri schools and Missouri jobs.
Prop A also has two sweeteners: a tax rate increase for the benefit of schools and a ban against additional casinos.
If you are against gambling, period, then vote no and don’t look back. I’ll be holding my nose and voting yes on “A.”
