Guest Post

Feels like Groundhog Day

Well here we go again, like Bill Murray in ” Groundhog Day ” The gambling issue rears it ugly head.  Personally I grow so tired of trying to protect what little social fabric is left in central and western Sussex County that I am exhausted.  Once again an elected official who is not even from Sussex County is proposing a gambling venue be built.  To this official I say what I told the speaker of the house ” If you want a casino so badly, build it in your district, not mine. ”

There are a lot of issues in play here, I will bring a few to light as they apply to how to move Delaware forward, not backward.  Delaware is in need of more skilled blue-collar workers.  We do not need a plethora of more minimum wage service positions.  Dover just reported a 1st quarter loss, and Harrington is struggling.  Surely the answer to gambling competition from other states is NOT to build a couple more inside our own borders.

There is also a social aspect, that when studied in other gambling states, demonstrates that gambling gets the most revenue from people who can least afford to put their monies at risk.  It is a form of economic slavery imposed on an already struggling class of people.  I fought gambling before, and I will do it again.  I hope the sane elected officials see this for what it is and turn back this assault, or build it in Talleyville, right next to the officials house.  I could only hope that the trash dumpsters are up wind of the officials house.

What say you?

As allays these views are mine alone from the bridge of my ship, and not the views of management here.

Water Pirate

10 Comments on "Guest Post"

  1. Laffter says:

    Why would one build another casino when the ones we have are screaming poverty?

    Last year the legislature approved a bill that LOWERED the fees and licenses they pay and also opened the door for E-gaming……gambling from home

    Maryland now has table games so our market is getting narrower. We are only bordered on thee sides, with the ocean to the east, so where is all this gaming traffics supposed to come from?

    I have to say Waterpirate, I never thought I would agree with you….but I do.

  2. waterpirate says:

    @ laffter,

    I am not a bad guy, just someone with the courage to say what is on my mind, if it passes the common sense test. I am truly shocked that the gentleman from Talleyvile is trotting this out in light of what we all know about the financial instability of the existing venues in DE. It conjurs up thoughts of ” what must be in it for him, rather than what is best for us all? “. Anyhoo lets all turn this nonsense back, again, and get on with real jobs that pay well, that are sustainable, and make sense.

  3. Laffter says:

    Yeah…..I get that. I kinda just say what’s on my mind too

    OMG, look common ground! At last!
    But seriously, I think this casino thing is a dumb idea, the jobs in construction would be temporary at best
    And the other service position would be low wage and not sustainable.

    So, where is the money at……oh, on the side of the developer and the state.
    Neither of them have any risk or liability on this

    One builds it gets paid and walks away

    The other collect fees and licenses……

    And who is left holding the bag- the TAXPAYER, when the business decisive it can’t pay the fees anymore and g
    Needs a subsidy to continue to provide those low wage jobs

    I really wish our legislators gave us more credit for our brain power.

  4. Frank Knotts says:

    I like to think of it as a pie. No matter how many times you slice a pie, you still have the same amount of pie. There are only so many gambling dollars out there, no matter how many games you create or casinos you build.
    Laffter is right, the jobs created during construction will be temporary.
    The other angle however is politics. The construction jobs will be union jobs. Unions are historically supporters of the Democrats.
    Many new state jobs will also be created after they open, inspectors, regulators and enforcers. State employees are also historically Democrat supporters.
    This is also about building voting blocks.

  5. anon. says:

    I say that this surprises me out of a bunch of so-called business friendly Republicans. Who are you to tell a private businessman what he can do. Gambling is legal.
    Buy his property and then you can do what you want with it, until then stay out of his business.
    You all sound like Democrats.

  6. Laffter says:

    Not quite anon

    You best look and see how far the state.’s fingers are in the till

    The state gets licensing fees, the state regulates,- this is done on a full time, on site 24 seven basis WITH M-F support staff AND a % of the money.

    Among other things…
    Office staff support
    PLUS it’s own special police unit

    Etc etc etc……so if it was only a private business then I would agree with you….but as the fees are set by state law, and the % taken are also set by state law
    Better yet…..go read the code

    Well then, it’s a little different animal

    And Gee, you are so ill- informed about the issue, with only talking points and no real knowledge that You sound like a REPUBLICAN

    You know, the low/no information voter…………but with plenty of FOX spoon-fed memes…..

  7. Laffter says:

    Only think I ever liked about Bodenweiser

    He hated gambling……for all the wrong reasons, but who cares?

    I always hated the gambling thing too- BAD IDEA

  8. anon. says:

    The state also permits, regulates and has police on site while a road is being paved or a bridge constructed by a privat contractor . A state inspector is there 24 hours a day.
    See the analogy?

  9. waterpirate says:

    As was said earlier, the only people to benefit/profit from gambling will be the initial developer and after that the SOD. To refer to gambling in the SOD as ” free enterprise business ” is a stretch.

    I renew my insistance that the new venuues be built in Talleyville, in that guys district, if he wants it so bad. Maybe even build it in front of his childrens school.

  10. anon says:

    And, while you’re at it, to claim a private business paving a road is a “free enterprise business” is a stretch, too. So the other anon proved waterpirate’s point for him.

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