Dont Let the Door Hit You (Opinion)

Texan Michael Wasserman is back yet again, peddling his proposed constitutional amendment to permit casinos in seven Arkansas counties.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has approved the wording of Wasserman’s proposal, which would give the Texan and his slickly named Arkansas Hotels & Entertainment Inc. exclusive rights to open casinos in Boone, Crittenden, Garland, Jefferson, Miller, Pulaski and Sebastian counties.

This is the third attempt by Wasserman to get his proposal on the ballot. He tried in 2006 and again just last year, but those measures failed to make it to voters.

This time, more than 78,000 Arkansans must sign his petition to place the measure on the November 2012 ballot.

Wasserman’s proposed amendment to the Arkansas Constitution would permit casinos to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and provide free alcoholic beverages, and prevent elected officials from regulating his company in any way.

And like the last attempt, it would give his company the sole right to operate casinos in Arkansas.

Perhaps Wasserman thinks Arkansans have short memories. Perhaps he thinks the state’s electorate, having become accustomed to the benefits and occasional thrills of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, has been softened up sufficiently to open wide the casino doors.

Not only is his proposal profoundly offensive and unwise, it asks us to forget the sad human cost of unchecked gambling — and with no government regulation, this would be the ultimate in unchecked gambling.

While we still think it’s poor public policy to engage state government in actively promoting gambling, the lottery is at least helping educate thousands of Arkansans.

Wasserman’s proposal would write his Texas company into Arkansas’ constitution as the sole beneficiary of an industry that is guaranteed to be wildly profitable when untaxed and unregulated.

It has no redeeming values at all.

Let’s send Wasserman packing one more time.