Seven Wichita-area lawmakers wrote a commentary published on Sunday’s Opinion pages suggesting that “good, old-fashioned political corruption” might be behind the Legislature’s expansion of gaming. Why would politicians agree to the revenue-sharing terms, they asked, if there “wasn’t something more personally appealing in the process?” Of course, one reason might be that survey after survey has shown that the public wants expanded gaming. But as to the “personally appealing” claim, it’s actually anti-expansion lawmakers who have received the most campaign money. Anti-gaming interests gave $259,500 to the current lawmakers since the start of 2001, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported, while pro-gaming organizations contributed $158,125.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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25 Comments
The Eagle and Capitol Journal refer to “anti-gaming interests.” In reality, the “anti-gaming” interests are Potowatomi Nation and Harrah’s, Inc. They’ve been taking gambling money and giving it to anti-gambling legislators specifically to buy their vote.
Why? Because Potowatomi and Harrah’s can’t stand the idea of competition. Their “anti-gaming” donations are “gaming for us, none for you” donations.
Every single lawmaker who took that money, and then voted against the casino bill, should lose their seat.
Ironically, these legislators who don’t want you and me to be able to vote on local casinos are the exact same ones who rushed the anti-gay relationship amendment out the door two years ago. “It should be up to the voters” they said.
Ah, the smell of hypocrisy.
You switched subjects really fast there. The legislators in their article pointed out that the state’s cut of gaming revenue is way below comparable figures in other states – a sweetheart deal for the gaming interests. If the Eagle were doing more journalism and less cheerleading for gaming, maybe we’d learn more about why. This particular comment doesn’t refer to who got money from people who are pro- or anti-casino in general, but who made a very bad deal for Kansas in the middle of the night without proper debate and deliberation. At least, if we have to have gaming, we should see more than 22 percent of the profits go to the state.
When the federal government provided for Indian gaming, the idea was to give a boost to the tribes, many of which were (and still are) among the most impoverished of Americans. The Native people will be hurt by the expansion of gambling to new venues. It is not hypocrisy at all for people who have a common interest to work together toward that objective, even when their motives aren’t the same. It happens all the time both in politics and in the rest of life.
The real hypocrisy is not who got what, who got how much or who’s getting how much, but the fact that the state is going to control this gaming venue while making your little office pool a gambling offense punishable by jail time. That’s hypocrisy.
Maybe if you gave 22% of your winnings in the office pool to the state? . . . naaaa!
Landwehr etc. grandstanding to the contrary, variations on the gambling bill has been getting kicked around the Legislature for a long time. The committee debates and floor debates on the various provisions frequently went until 2am. Pasted below is the tracking record on SB66; while the abbreviations are confusing to the uninitiated, the dates tell a good part of the story. For those interested, you can find the whole bill at http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-bills/searchBillNumber.do.
01/11/2007 S Introduced -SJ 1901/12/2007 S Referred to Federal and State Affairs -SJ 2401/25/2007 S CR: Be passed as am. by Federal and State Affairs -SJ 6101/30/2007 S COW: CR be adptd; be passed as am. -SJ 7401/31/2007 S FA: Passed as am.; Yeas 36 Nays 4 -SJ 77; Engrossed -SJ 8402/01/2007 H Received and introduced -HJ 12502/02/2007 H Referred to Federal and State Affairs -HJ 13003/21/2007 H CR: Be passed by Federal and State Affairs -HJ 48403/23/2007 H COW: Be am.; be passed as am. -HJ 52803/26/2007 H FA: Passed as am.; Yeas 64 Nays 58 -HJ 61003/28/2007 S Nonconcurred; CC requested; apptd Brungardt, Vratil, Gilstrap-SJ 60603/28/2007 H Acceded; apptd Siegfreid, Huebert, Peterson -HJ 68003/28/2007 S Concurred; Yeas 22 Nays 18 -SJ 60603/28/2217 S Motion to reconsider failed -SJ 60703/28/2007 S Requested house to return03/29/2007 S Reengrossed04/05/2007 S Enrolled and presented to gov.04/11/2007 Approved by gov.
Whoops, I pasted a bad link on that last post. Try http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2008/66.pdf
Putting a casino in your community is like opening your doors and putting a sign in your yard that says,”Please take my stuff, and while your at it trash my house, eat my food and kill my dog.”
Just ask any poor person in Atlantic City, the Septic Tank of the East Coast. I dare you.
Sean,
If the blog your Typekey links to is any indication, the “poor” are the least of your concerns. Name calling, character assassination, and self-righteous intolerance seem to be the rule in your life.
How sad for you.
Campaign money as discussed under the law is legal and above board.
Do you think these lawmakers that are pro Gambling are content to do this for free?
BS
There is more under the table deals going on than you can shake a stick at.
How about doing some real investigative reporting Eagle and report on that.
As yes I know they’re mostly Republicans, a crook is a crook.
At least the pro-gaming legislators didn’t take money from people they claim to be morally opposed to. The self-righteous lawmakers who wrote that op ed *did.* It’s in their campaign reports.
One campaign I consulted on last year received a large donation from the payday loan lobby. Being opposed to the business practices of the payday loan shops, she returned their check uncashed.
That’s the difference between honesty and integrity, and mendacity and hypocrisy.
The Eagle needs to look at all the tax free “Promotion of Kansas” organizations and figure out why the members are getting sweetheart land sales.
Also, they might want to check to see all of these “discovery trips” paid by these “Promotion of Kansas” tax exempt organizations are sponsoring lavish trips to lawmakers and their families/friends.
Like I said, there is more under the table than above the table money being spread around out there.
Repub: What are the “promotion of Kansas” organizations? Are these organizations paid for out of Kansas Lottery funds? Or are these organizations formed to promote gambling/casinos in Kansas? I guess I’m not clear on this … but should be.
Jwink,
I would rather not say. Let’s just say I have had my ear to the ground on this and have heard the buffalo stampede coming for awhile now.
How on earth did Ted Powers sign his name to a letter??? The man is a walking corpse. Seriously, he is not well. His skin is bright yellow, he can barely walk, and half the time he doesn’t know where he is. I don’t understand how he is still able to serve in the KS House. Why on earth do people keep sending him back?!?
Republican’s whisper campaign goes on and on.
This is the same guy who ridicules “liberal conspiracy theories” but then intimates with absolutely no proof a vast conspiracy.
As for the Kansas Republicans, they might want to reacquaint themselves with the concept of “the will of the majority.” It’s the pit bull that has been biting them on the ass since the last election . . .
Wichita is a small city located in the southern Kansas bible belt, a positive, made up of many descendents of countless small farm communities across Kansas who moved to Wichita during WWII to participate in the war economy and stayed.
Now in the year 2007, Wichita’s hard working citizens are under assault by casino promoters, expanded liquor sales promoters and promoters who want to spend some $300,000,000.43 for the unwanted, unneeded downtown white elephant arena for which no legitimate user can be found.
Why are these “entertainment options” being foisted off on the taxpayers of Wichita and southern Kansas … mostly by out of town carpet baggers?
That’s easy. All are “easy money” activities that promote no useful function for Wichita residents. The promoters, in reality “money changers,” are desperately trying to get their hands in the pockets of generally unresisting Wichita taxpayers.
Wake up Wichita, you are about to be fleeced even more, big time.And its time for Wichita opinion makers, newpapers and radio/TV, to begin to speak up for the people.
JWink–
Thanks for coming to the event at the Library Monday.
Did you notice how many global warming nay-sayers were willing to consider the evidence and put forward their contrary theories?
That would be all of . . . NONE.
Promotion of Kansas groups? WTF?
Sounds like SWIFTBOATING to me.
I suspect, as 2008 draws near, we will see more sad inuendo and smear campaigns.
Heheheh. At least with republican’s cryptic whispers, we have no CLUE what he is talking about so he is no danger to anyone.
Capn A: I appreciated the outstanding presentation by Susan Pereverzoff on CO2 emissions in Kansas. That was great information and presented so well. I was in a hurry so don’t think I got to speak with you. I did speak briefly with WE Blog’s “CF.”
We need more of those kind of public information meetings. Obviously a subject that important to the future of the world and all mankind wasn’t reported by our Wichita mainstream media!
The wife and I stopped in Newkirk on our way home Monday. We’d never seen the casinos there. We went inside to look but didn’t spend any money. Neither one of us is much for gambling.
If that’s the kind of casino they have planned for Wichita, I’m against it.
Hey, JWink:WE reported it :)
Will Securities Commissioner Chris Biggs going to run stupid ads about people “loosing their shirts” in the Kansas casinos?
Loosing their shirts? Is that anything like goosing a skirt?
Loosening their ties, maybe, before they go about LOSING their shirts . . .
MrC–
Outstanding!
JWink–
The Eagle had a reporter there. He said that they’d have an article on it this week.
Saving the planet or Sunday beer sales?
Of course, beer sales led the front page . . .
Cap’n AM and C.F., et al: The EAGLE presented a fairly comprehensive article about the meeting at the library, headlined: GLOBAL WARMING, LOCAL WARNING, Kansans spread the word.”
This “word” does need to be spread far and wide until things begin to happen to counter the direction we are going.
Personally, because of the proliferation of new ethanol manufacturing plants that will sponge water big time from our underground aquifers in Kansas, I am very concerned about the future of clean drinking water in Kansas.
I wonder if wild Kansas sunflowers need much water?