From a 2007 Chicago Tonight appearance... More on the topic from Proft below:
From Proft for Governor
I am all for making the needed investments in our state’s infrastructure to maintain Illinois’ comparative advantage as the Midwest’s transportation and logistics hub.
I know persons in the building trades have suffered and the quality and safety of Illinois roads and bridges have deteriorated as Springfield Democrats dickered over the last several months.
But financing the $31 billion capital bill Gov. Quinn signed yesterday with expanded gambling in the form of video poker was not the right way to go.
The same politicians who opposed Gov. Blagojevich’s “Keno for Kids” plan in 2005 to fund his capital construction bill chose to back the video gambling gambit, including Republicans, like my opponent State Sen. Kirk Dillard.
What’s the difference? Why was gambling expansion to fund infrastructure wrong under Blagojevich but right under Quinn?
The answer, of course, is that it was wrong in both cases. This is not a new position for me. In August 2007, I did a commentary for Chicago Tonight on casino expansion to fund state government responsibilities. You can view it here (please note the sarcasm): [IL Editor note: See YouTube above]
The sad thing is that the legalization of video gambling is projected to bring in $375 million per year. That money could have easily been obtained by making long-overdue spending cuts and reprioritizing state government spending to dedicate the necessary revenue stream to financing a capital bill.
When will we get wise to the Chicago 9’s scams?
Thirty-five years ago, we were told that the Illinois Lottery would solve our school-funding problems forever. Ten years after its creation, in 1985, Illinois politicians passed a law specifically requiring that Lottery profits go directly into the Common School Fund. And that was the last we ever heard about school funding woes in Illinois, right? Of course not.
Twenty years ago, we were told that casino gambling would solve our budget shortfalls in perpetuity. And that was the last we ever heard about budget woes in Illinois, right? Of course not.
The truth is that these new revenue streams have only added to the state’s ever-expanding spending power and increased its encroachment on the private sector. Stop and think about how many different taxes you pay every day. And then realize that the Chicago 9 are always thinking about new and exciting ways to separate you from your money.
The Chicago 9 will spend as much money as they are given to spend. Wait, considering our $11 billion budget deficit and $80 billion unfunded pension liability, let me rephrase: The Chicago 9 will pay the monthly minimums on the credit cards they take out in the name of Illinois taxpayers to spend money they do not have until we are max-ed out.
This video gambling expansion does serve one important purpose. It should help eliminate the false pretense that Democrats make about being the party of the “little guy.” As we know, games like the Lottery that are marketed to poor people are essentially a regressive tax on those least able to afford it.
Talk about the fix being in for the Chicago 9 and their functionaries: The only people getting a big payout from their gambling expansion is them -- at our expense.
Look, I am not an opponent of legalized gambling. I partake in games of chance from time-to-time myself. My review of this legislation is not a “holier-than-thou” sermon. It is a rejection of bad public policy.
I am an opponent of the Chicago 9’s Three-Card Monty scams.
I am an opponent of seeing Illinoisans get nickeled-and-dimed to death to prop up systems that do not serve them.
I am a proponent of the following policy path I would pursue as Governor:
1. No expansion of gambling beyond the ten casino licenses and existing racetracks.
2. Get the state out of the gambling business entirely (with the exception of regulating it): no public ownership, no publicly-financed advertising, and no state employees devoted to the business of gambling.
If ever there was a state in need of an intervention, Illinois is it.
