http://itismymind.blogspot.com/2007/12/madigan-proposes-major-gambling.html
i have a very different opinion, which i think has been summed up best by candidate for the 7th District State Senate, Suzanne Elder:
From http://www.suzanneelder.org/Gambling.html
In my neighborhood there are buses that pick up and drop off casinoi strongly agree, and this definitely has implications for the 6th Ward. i see "luxury" buses (i.e. not a cheap yellow rental bus) on King Drive with stops at 79th & 87th listed on the front window. On Saturdays at 9am, there are two buses ready to pick up crowds of elderly African Americans near Tuley Park.
customers, older customers, customers of color, customers with small, fixed
incomes, customers who don’t think of gambling as an afternoon’s
entertainment but as a chance, a shot at something better. Because I don’t
see these buses roaming the Chicago’s more upscale neighborhoods, it
suggests to me that gambling is more likely to work as a pernicious, highly
regressive tax extracted from those who can least afford it.
i have never seen this massive pick up before anywhere in the city! A few small buses here and there (such as off Argyle, with Asian immigrants, and Devon , with elderly Russian & South Asians nearby).
As Sue Elder stated, these casinos aren't simple entertainment that just happens to generate revenue (like the theaters or Navy Pier) -- this is really a deceception that is focused on those with little money who have placed a lot of hope in the casino trip.
Adding to the deception are the buses, with such "tame" names as "Irma J Tours". Does Irma J ever give tours of downtown, or the ethnic neigborhoods? Their website lists a few events -- but when you see them out, it seems like they mainly go to one kind of destination -- the kind that leaves people poorer, emotionally & intellectually as well as financially.
If the casinos didn't make so much money (as opposed to paying it out) from people in the 6th ward and other areas, would they spend so lavishly on such nice transportation and other incentives?
i'm new to the community, and have seen & heard (and tasted) a lot of great things in this community of Chatham, but this is one ting that is a problem.
What do others think?
You're totally right. A lot of people mostly elderly are boarding buses. Once upon a time they'd board in the parking lot of Jewel on 87th Street. I think it's unfortunate but they're going to gamble. We can't stop them though I do hope someone is at home to stop them.
ReplyDeleteI for one hope that there is no casino in the 6th ward. The 6th Ward for the most part is not a struggling ward. Although some people in the ward are going out for a night of gambling.
Great post.