"I oppose the expansion of gambling,'' Republican Gov. Charlie Crist said repeatedly during his campaign.
Granted, he said it with a wink and a nod, as casino boss Donald Trump hosted fundraisers for his campaign, and the gambling industry and the Indian tribes poured in millions of dollars. But he said it.
"I oppose the expansion of gambling,'' he said.
Crist refused to elaborate. At one point, a campaign spokeswoman explained: "When [he] says he's against the expansion of gambling, that's just what he means.''
But by "expansion,'' apparently he didn't mean the gradual but unmistakable march toward more ways to gamble at more places for more hours with more money. Because that is what is happening.
Read the rest of Beth Reinhard's column here.
Posted by: | June 30, 2007 at 03:24 PM
it means when he goes into the ballot box, he's voting "NO"
Posted by: | June 30, 2007 at 11:37 PM
Come on!! The people of Florida voted slots in and were passed into law under Jeb Bush's watch. This years slots bill was little more then fine tuning a law after having a year's worth of experience. Seriously, does anyone believe that letting Charities and Disabled American Veterans sell the instant bingo ticket at their bingo facilities,constitutets an "expansion of gambling"? Beth Reinhard ought not to confuse piety with virtue.
Posted by: SMOKE | July 01, 2007 at 09:56 AM
I would still think expanding the amount of machines, the hours of operation as well as putting an ATM at each facility is going to result in more gambling than before. That's not expansion? Yes, it started as a fixing bill, but it morphed into something bigger than that...and as Rep. Bucher put it, it expands something voters voted in not too long ago without their input.
Posted by: | July 02, 2007 at 10:47 AM
That doesn't suprise me.
Posted by: Joeseph | June 11, 2008 at 10:22 PM