Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Casinos raise more than $8 million to push Proposition A

It's for the kids.

Every time the gambling interests in Missouri have a proposal they want passed, they start playing the education card. The same thing has been done in recent ads pushing for the passage of Proposition A.

Documents posted today on the Missouri Ethics Commission website indicate more than $8 million has been raised in the past three months to push for Proposition A.

How much of that money came from educators who would allegedly benefit if this bill passed?

Not one cent.

All $8,983,161.94 came from Ameristar Casinos or Pinnacle Entertainment, according to the Ethics Commission documents.

During the three-month period, the Yes on A Committee spent $7,175,118.76, mostly on advertising, which has been blanketing the airwaves for the past several days.

Proposition A, while promising money for education, is more about providing a steady cash infusion to casinos, while preventing any future competition. We can expect to see Ameristar and Pinnacle continue to pour money into this issue over the last month of the campaign, since it promises to be a cash cow for the state's existing casinos.

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