See reaction of three readers below . . . . .

I didn't say it in the column today, because I used to say it all the time, and I got sick of the whole thing -- four years of Bobby Slots will do that to ya.

I hate the prospect of slot machines and, worse, casinos, in Maryland. I'd like our state to push away from more gambling and focus on creating a smarter, healthier workforce in support of a growing biotech economy. Slots amount to another tax on a socioeconomic class of citizens who can least afford to spend their limited funds on gambling, and Sheila Dixon and other city officials ought to be ashamed of themselves for suggesting a casino in Baltimore, with its persistently high concentration of poverty, the highest in Maryland, the wealthiest state in the nation.

The whole thing makes me sick -- all the lobbying that has taken place, all the poor-mouthing and threats by the racing interests, the politicians who see slots as a way to tax the part of the population that's least vocal and virtually powerless. Can't we come up with a better idea for growing the state economy?

If the referendum were held tomorrow, a majority of voters would favor slots, according to the Sun poll published yesterday. I concede cynicism on this issue -- and I doubt the anti-slots folks, who see this as a morality issue and a quality of life question for all Marylanders, will prevail. But we'll see. I could still be talked into a fight, if there is one.

Here's morning reaction to today's column:

From Clara Forrest:
"I agree with your opposition to bringing slots to Maryland.    I have nothing against gambling but don’t like the fact that it is being touted as a solution to Maryland’s financial problems.  We the citizens do not know where the money goes.   Money is going in somebody’s pockets.  It seems as though “slots” is being used as the answer to all our problems – taxes too high? Get slots.  Schools need money? Get slots (By the way, whatever happened to the idea that the lottery was going to help with funding the schools?)  The answer to all our problems, businesses leaving the state – the country even, the flood of merchandise no longer made in the USA --- let’s not look at our fearless leaders to solve these problems, let’s just get people to spend money on slots!  I wonder if they will set up help for people who become addicted to gambling in the same way that the state sponsors stop-smoking programs with the cigarette tax money.  The programs boil down to “just say no.”  I also feel that it is the poor who will be footing this bill.  Thanx for letting me express my opinion (or is it vent?)"
 
From John Kantorski:
"Do you have the same comtempt for the state lottery? All the lottery consists of is a variety of state-sanctioned gambling games that prey on the lower income class of this state (and nearly every state in the country). You can go to any liquor or convenience store, from Falls and Cold Spring to Belair and Moravia, and see the people who the state count on to fill their lottery commission coffers. These people are not marketing to the "McMansion" tenants in Sparks. They are marketing to the people living on Conkling and Edmondson. . . .  The same applies to bingo. Steve Bisciotti does not grab his bingo bag full of purple ink dotters and his lucky troll and head down to Fullerton Manor on Tuesday nights. Bingo, another state sanction gambling outlet, caters and markets to fixed-income senior citizens and working class folks who dream of hitting the $5k jackpot game at the end of the night by filling their card in under 51 numbers. There is a social aspect of it, but the bingo halls use that to their advantage, the same way a bartender learns your name to try to keep you there drinking longer. . . . . If you support either of these things, then it weakens any argument against slots. Because these two games bring the same problems that slots bring. For every $300 million Wiccan lotto winner, there's 50 factory workers spending $100 a week on the Pick 3 and Pick 4, because they are told they have to play to win. . . . Bring in slots, and put every penny into education, the environment and highways. Not one cent should go to a horse track. Horse racing is a red herring in the slots debate; used as a ploy to rationalize something that doesn't need rationalization."

From Mike Rausa:
"The most disappointing aspect of slots in Maryland is the illumination of legislative obstructionism by Maryland Dems, Speaker Busch in particular. If he hadn't been so intransigent during the Ehrlich Administration, Maryland would now have a slots revenue stream in place. While it wouldn't fill the fiscal hole the Democrats created, it would have gone a long way in addressing the issue.  . . . What Busch and Miller have said to Maryland voters is, to hell with what the voters want, do it their way or suffer the consequences. Well, we are suffering the consequences, just look at MOM's tax burden. I can't wait for the folks in AACO to wake up and politically throw Busch into the Severn and have his political career fade with the outgoing tide. . . .   One last point, slots isn't a tax on the poor.  It's a tax on the elderly.  Just go to Delaware Park.  You can't swing a dead cat by the tail without hitting an oxygen tank, a wheel chair, or a box of adult diapers!"