On Other Blogs
TNT, PI.com: A "Fascinating Debate" About Gambling and Liquor
Five Point owner Dave Meinert's post yesterday arguing for more liquor stores, expanded gambling, and longer bar hours---and a heated response by David Goldstein, of Horse's Ass, on Slog
---has been making the rounds of other blogs, with the PI.com picking it up yesterday and the Tacoma News Tribune writing about it
today.
Calling the debate "fascinating," the TNT's Peter Callaghan weighs in with a post he wrote back in 2008, after Gov. Chris Gregoire rejected a deal to allow the Spokane Tribe to expand its gambling operations---a decision Meinert called a huge mistake, saying "it's time to revisit that deal and get that money."
Callaghan wrote:
Calling the debate "fascinating," the TNT's Peter Callaghan weighs in with a post he wrote back in 2008, after Gov. Chris Gregoire rejected a deal to allow the Spokane Tribe to expand its gambling operations---a decision Meinert called a huge mistake, saying "it's time to revisit that deal and get that money."
Callaghan wrote:
Gregoire killed what we'll call Spokane I because it was an awful deal. Sure, the Spokanes agreed to share a relatively small amount of money. But it came in exchange for a huge expansion in gambling, not just for the Spokanes but for all the other tribes entitled to a similar deal.
The other tribes did oppose Spokane I, and revenue sharing was part of their objection. But they also hated how the Spokanes were treated better, despite years of thumbing their noses at the state. And it ended a policy in which wealthier tribes shared revenue with poor tribes.
Commercial gambling folks hated it because it essentially guaranteed the tribes a monopoly on machine gambling. Most legislators hated it because it gave away too much in return for a small amount of revenue.
