44 Comments - Ex-Newfie - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 6:09 am: Apparently EVERYTHING this guy is trying to do involves a gamble. Why doesn’t he just stop proposing schemes that are so fly-by-night they would make Al Capone blush? The state cannot afford any more pay-outs, period. He has robbed individual agency budgets, pensions, and now wants to rob the pockets of the less fortunate, which research says are the majority of people who play these gambling games. Disgusting. - Sheesh - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 6:38 am: Ex Newfie is right on the money. Things were so less hypocritical when the gangsters were running these types of operations. And I am glad to see any new revenues will be used to service new debt. I know when I got a $50 a week raise, I went out and charged another $10,000 on my credit card because that is the amount that raised my minimum monthly payment $200. I got a Sea-doo, a new computer, a Sirius satellite radio, a new digital camera, and went to Hawaii…who knew a simple $50 a week raise could buy SO MUCH? - DOWNSTATE - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 6:40 am: I think the key words are “he once opposed”.A sound bite over the holidays no one picked up on was he would not commit himself to not raising taxes if re-elected.HANG ON PEOPLE AND START FIGURING WHERE YOU CAN CUT YOUR BUDGET BECAUSE HERE COMES ONE OF THE HIGHEST TAX INCREASES THIS STATE HAS EVER SEEN IF THIS CLOWN IS RE-ELECTED! - Video Poke me - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 6:51 am: has anyone looked at who represents the firm pushing Keno in Illinois? GTECH. Hmmmmm. Friends of the gov? Look at all the problems GTECH has had in other states. This guy is unbelievable. - Anon - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 7:20 am: I’m taking bets on whether this thing will pass. Do I hear 2-1 odds in favor? - Anonymous - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 8:03 am: Rich, Tusk and others originally planned to link the Keno revenue stream to AllKids, but decided about a week prior to the AllKids announcement to de-couple the two. The conventional thinking was not to taint AllKids with a gambling expansion proposal. - Defensor Pacis - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 8:14 am: Something tells me that we’re not going to have very many doctors, lawyers, and CEOs playing Keno… If we’re going to finance the state by drawing money disproportionately from its lower-income population, why not just save the advertising and prize money and just create a special tax on the poor? I do not understand how a Governor who seems to care so much about alleviating poverty could even conceive of such a scheme. - BIG R.PH - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 8:17 am: OK let me get this straight. Keno in unregulated bars & restraunts is OK. But casino gambling and racetracks (where gambling is already going on) is not OK. G-Rod the liberal hyopcrite strikes again!!! - Defensor Pacis - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 8:18 am: Here is an opportunity for the Governor to show the people of Illinois that he is not the vote-grubbing mercenary that the Republicans paint him as: if he is, in fact, genuinely concerned with helping lower-income children, then he should have no trouble opposing programs that promote self-destructive behavior and funnel much-needed money out of their households into the leaky coffers of the state. - Cal Skinner - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 8:36 am: Keno is the crack cocaine of gambling, according to Tom Grey. I think folks should have to go farther that the neighorhood bar to lose their weekly pay check. I’ll bet this is an issue conservatives and liberals can agree upon. - Bill Baar - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 8:45 am: Bad idea. We have enough gaming. - Truthful James - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 8:48 am: Why don’t we just declare the entire state to be an Indian reservation and elect a tribesman as Governor? That will solve our money problems…won’t it? - WARDOG - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 9:02 am: If you take a look at what has happened to the payouts on instant scratch offs since this administration has been in you should understand why it is not wise to have Keno in this state, unless the people and the lawmakers are really that gullable to believe this guys hipe AGAIN. By the way, what ever happened to Brian Daly and Lon Monk. I hear they are in hiding in the reelection campaign closet. What a piece of work ! - Randall Sherman - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 9:19 am: it seems to me that this idea is an indication that the governor is either out of his mind or is totally frightened about the prospect of losing. - Beowulf - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 9:19 am: Any truth to the rumors that Governor Blagojevich is bringing Miss Cleo “The Psychic Reader” out of retirement? I was told that Rod is going to get Miss Cleo to open a “Psychic Hot Line” whereby the state can charge callers $3 per minute for calls to Miss Cleo. Rod is always looking for ways to further help the taxpayers out of the financial quicksand that he and George Ryan helped create for Illinois. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 9:25 am: Three months before an election seems like a strange time to break a pledge not to expand gambling. Wasn’t this a Mike Boland bill at some point? I give up on this guy. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 9:29 am: Whoa, YDD, that’s almost news. - just wondering... - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 9:50 am: ..if it’s just a coincidence that the last registered lobbyist for Gtech is Wilhelm & Conlon. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 10:13 am: Because of what I’m about to say, I can’t give my name in good conscience…I agree with Cal. Seriously though, this dipwad found an issue that the pro-casino and anti-gaming folks can unite against - keno. It shows in one fell swoop, his hypocrisy, transparency, deceptiveness, corruptness and desperation. Well, at least he’s consistent. Eisendrath is looking better (and stronger) by the day. If people think that he doesn’t have a chance, they are not thinking straight. - VanillaMan - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 10:17 am: Wow! Blagojevich makes a great move with Cohen, and then a really stupid move with this announcement. This is stupid for a few reasons. 1.) It shows that as governor, he must see our fiscal problems in a desperate light. 2.) He has no inner compass on moral issues like gambling, swinging one way, then another, alienating supporters and foes alike. 3.) He brings a tasteless issue like gambling into the campaign at a time when his public image doesn’t need more tastelessness. Blagojevich is supposed to demonstrate that under his leadership, state finances are back on track. This action doesn’t demonstrate this, instead it shows a concerned governor grasping at even repugnant ideas to balance our books. Dumb Move! - steve schnorf - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 10:52 am: As far as gambling goes, we already allow it. Therefore, to use a gambling phrase, “in for a dime, in for a dollar.” It seems silly to parse words like “expansion.” More people gamble more dollars each year, so gaming “expands” automatically. Since we allow gambling, then I believe we should maximize state revenues. If enough people truly believe this is a tax on the poor, then we should abolish gambling. This has all the elaborate trappings necessary for a “partially pregnant” joke. Debates over more boats, more positions, slots at tracks, video poker, and now keno are so artificial and hypocritical as to be tiresome. We allow gambling!! It’s not a secret. Many people think that is bad. Many people have no problem with it. We’re debating angels on the head of a pin. All this sound and fury diverts us from real issues that should be looked at. Will keno cost us other lottery revenue? Will the revenue stream be reliable enough to base debt service on it? At what rate will we tax keno revenues. If we are going to implement keno, is funding a bond plan the best use of the new revenues? If we are going to allow gambling in this state (and that question appears to be answered) then I suggest we look at it as a revenue issue, and make the changes (keno, video poker, more and bigger boats, slots at tracks, etc) that enable us to address our serious and long-term state revenue problems. - Larry Horse - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 11:39 am: Why can’t we just let the free market supply gambling if people want it a la Nevada. Nevada as a state gets along perfectly fine without disproportionate social ills despite the fact that they have legalized gambling. One regulation that I think would be appropriate though would be to set up a list of people not allowed in casinos that allows spouses to put their husband or wife on the list if they believe they have a gambling problem. Remember, people gamble because they want to. How is it our business to tell them whether or not they should take part in this form of amusement? Why not prevent people from buying televisions or board games? It’s the exact same thing. I am conflicted though about the Keno because I am leery of state-run monopolies. - It wasn't me! - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 12:30 pm: Okay, so gambling is legal in this state. But it is a shame that WE have elected individuals who feel there is no other way to fund a state budget than through a game of black jack, 21 or keno. - DefensorPacis - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 1:21 pm: Steve Schnorf’s slippery-slope argument seems convincing to me (though I’m not enough of an expert to really say so definitively). Since most right-thinking Illinoisans don’t like the notion of Keno and other more extreme versions of gambling, the argument that any gambling will lead to all gambling should be a concerning one. If it’s not true, let’s draw the line here (or, even better, a good bit closer to a gambling ban). If it is true, then let’s revisit the question of gambling and see if there really might not be another less costly way of picking the pocket of the working class. - cermak_rd - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 1:33 pm: I don’t see a problem with Keno. And it’s not a tax on the poor–it’s a tax on the mathematically ignorant. I would just like to see this expansion of state gambling tied to an expansion of private enterprise gambling. Basically, I’d like for neighborhood bars to have the option of having 1 or 2 electronic poker machines that give legal payouts. Why should the state get all the action? - DefensorPacis - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 1:52 pm: Until I see hard numbers on this question, I am going to have to assume there’s a good bit of collinearity between “the poor” and the “mathematically ignorant” (after all, if there were no connection, why would people clamor to be in the well-off school districts?). That said, does anyone have demographic data on lottery/gambling customers? - shelbyville - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 2:04 pm: Keno was throughly examined by the Ryan administraton and discarded. It was an expensive proposition that wouldn’t have brought in the revenues needed to offset the negativity. By the way, The Lottery has the power to introduce Keno. IL. already has off track betting, even Springfield has it. It operates relatively quietly. I doubt that most even know that it is there. - ONEMANCANMAKEADIFFERENCE - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 2:58 pm: As you can see Deputy Governor Brad Tusk made that comparison. Every time I read a newspaper article where he comments, I say to myself, who hired this man. His comments almost always contradict himself and the law. Not to mention the comments of the Governors spokesperson about the 1 Million to the church. She didn’t make sense and her comments coincided with the notion that it was a violation of law. LOL YALL! - firstamendment2006 - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 2:59 pm: As you can see Deputy Governor Brad Tusk made that comparison. Every time I read a newspaper article where he comments, I say to myself, who hired this man. His comments almost always contradict himself and the law. Not to mention the comments of the Governors spokesperson about the 1 Million to the church. She didn’t make sense and her comments coincided with the notion that it was a violation of law. LOL YALL! - Anonymous - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 4:03 pm: It’s nice to see our Governor finally read his job description profile and is looking for ways to generate revenue to balance his spending. I just wish he would look to pay back the pensions that he borrowed from last year before spending it widely. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 5:26 pm: Steve - To quote someone: “While it’s not clear where the line ought to be drawn, it’s clear it must be drawn somewhere.” If you did a poll tomorrow, 80% of Illinoisans would be against Keno, just as they are legalizing video poker. If maximizing revenue were our only factor in determining whether or not something should be legal in Illinois, pot, crack and prostitution would all be legal. - Levois - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 5:50 pm: This is another quick scheme to no where. The lottery or gaming hasn’t solved to many funding problems for say our schools. What will this new scheme accomplish? The same crap. The state legislator should deliberate over this. - shelbyville - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 5:53 pm: 80% of Illinoisans don’t know what it is. But, hey, if we can do it up at the Moose, it is all right by me. - Norseman - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 5:54 pm: “This is no different than ‘Ticket for a Cure,’” said Becky Carroll, spokeswoman for Blagojevich’s budget office. Someone tell Becky that the difference is that “Ticket for a Cure” was created by statute. This is typical Blago misdirection in support of a questionable policy. - Anon - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 6:01 pm: When this was someone else’s idea it was bad. Now that it is hair do’s idea its good. Know I know why he got poor grades in law school. - Anon - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 6:14 pm: If Keno were to be introduced for purposes of capital improvements, what guarantees do we have that the funds will not be swept at will into the general revenue fund? What about the Ticket for a Cure? Didn’t we already have breast cancer funds raised via specialized license plate fees that were swept away? How many other special funds have been wiped clean? Wasn’t the lottery originally introduced to help fund education? - Larry Horse - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 7:04 pm: I personally would love for pot, crack, and prostitution to be legal in Illinois. We could then tax those things so that we didn’t have to tax good things like income and corporate profits so much. If drugs were legalized, not only would people have more liberty (people seem to forget that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the reasons this country was founded), but citizens of inner city communities that are plagued with gang violence would be able to be free from the constant fear of going outside at the wrong time of day, as drug selling would be a legitimate, regulated business, restricted to commercial areas. The biggest problem that could arise with legalizing these things is that the ability of parents to raise their kids might be adversely affected (although alcohol is somehow strangely legal). That however could be remedied by just making it a felony for someone to neglect their children due to drug use. - Anon - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 7:05 pm: This is Mike Boland’s baby for the last three years. Too bad nobody from the Guv’s office ever returned his call, or answered his letters. Now its their idea. Good greif! - Anon - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 9:02 pm: If, as the Governor has stated, video poker is the crack cocaine of gambling then does that make keno sort of like opium? - girl friday - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 9:28 pm: Anon 6:14 – true, true, true The Springfield Journal had this to say “In Missouri, the game raised about $47 million during the last fiscal year.” How is this administration saying that they expect $80 million in revenues for this game? Is this the same guy that made all the (wrong) predictions on the other cost-saving initiatives and/or revenues? - Uncle Tony's democratic liason - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 9:31 pm: Inlude Keno in polling places-at least it solves voter apathy. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Jan 11, 06 @ 9:56 pm: Steve Schnorf, like he has on many occasions, nails it again. Gambling is legal in Illinois. We’ve already decided the issue. What isn’t illegal is the numbers racket (and other black market stuff as mentioned above — don’t get me started on decriminalizing certain pharmecueticals), which already exist. It’s illegal for private citizens to participate in the street lottery, but legal for the state to sponsor it. It is illegal for bars to sponsor video poker, but OK for the state to do so. Gambling exists all around us, and Tom Grey and others are right to stand up to it and call it out for what it is — exploitation. But keeping Illinois government out of it doesn’t mean gambling doesn’t happen. Like the illegal drug trade: someone is selling, someone is buying, regardless of the efforts of the government or the wishes of people like Rev. Grey. To continue to criminalize it is to continue to bury our collective head in the sand and pretend, that because it is illegal, then no one will participate. From a public policy perspective, haven’t we learned anything about human behavior? Human nature? Taxing a behavior that many abhor is hardly endorsing or encouraging that behavior (tobacco). Pretending this activity (keno, video poker, pot, crack, meth) doesn’t occur as often because it is “illegal” is crazy. Again, to paraphrase Schnorf: we’ve already legally decided in Illinois that gambling is OK if it is properly regulated and taxed. Why should we quibble about how/where this regulation/taxation occurs? I still don’t want a casino in Chicago though. Go figure. - steve schnorf - Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 12:44 am: Dog; an important difference between gambling and prostitution is, as you know, for better or worse gambling is legal in Illinois. As to the idea of a poll that would show that 80% of Illinoisans are opposed to video poker, I think you could only be right if the people polled were those who didn’t go to their local Moose, Eagles, Elks, VFW, Anmerican Legion, Kc hall, or neighborhood tavern. If that’s 80% of Illinoisans, I’d be surprised. I’m not arguing whether gambling, should or shouldn’t be legal, I’m simply saying the silly parsing that goes on is hypocritical; slots are OK at boats, but not at tracks or OTBs where gambling already takes place? Slots, tracks, OTB, lotteries are legal, but video poker, which is so widespread as to be omnipresent, isn’t? - Mike - Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 7:12 am: Didn’t have time to read all of the comments, but is anyone concerned about the word BORROWING? 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