Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recent rejected the gambling expansion Bill that would have created at least 105,000 good paying jobs and pumped an estimated $1,000,000,000 into the struggling IL economy. Gov. Quinn cited Chicago’s long history of corruption and organized crime as one of his reasons. The Illinois Gambling Expansion Act – SB1849 – would have added 5 new casinos in Illinois, including the city-owned casino in Chicago. It would have also allowed racetracks to add slot machine to their properties. Horse racing tracks like Balmoral Park have been struggling lately due to the sluggish economy. These machines would have been welcomed by tracks around the State.
Why Did Governor Quinn Reject The IL Gambling Expansion Bill?
The idea that corruption in Chicago and the rest of IL is the reason why Governor Pat Quinn vetoed the IL Gambling Expansion Bill (SB1849) is simply not true. If that was the case we would no longer allow new police stations to open in Chicago, since they are essentially “hubs” of corruption in the city. The same is true for other government buildings. Pat Quinn is a Democrat so the real reason that he vetoed SB1849 is somewhat confusing because it all boils down to religion. Pat Quinn believes that gambling is immoral due to his religious upbringing. Usually right-wing evangelical Republicans use their power by forcing people to live their lives according to a debunked book that also preaches things like mentally challenged children not being allowed in churches. Here are some other Bible laws that the Governor Quinn may want to consider signing into law in IL:
- It is immoral to mix linen and wool in your clothing – Leviticus 19:19
- It is immoral to have physical contact (touch) with a menstruating woman and those who do so will be considered “unclean” until the sun goes down – Leviticus 15:19-20
- It is immoral to curse, which Pat Quinn is well known for doing – Ephesians 5:4
- It is immoral to gossip – Leviticus 19:16
- Adultery shall be punished by stoning the woman to death - Leviticus 20:27
Let’s not forget that it is also a sin to work on the Sabbath (Sunday). Governor Quinn should close hospitals and emergency services during this Holy day. If the Bible taught him that gambling is “immoral” then why wouldn’t he implement some of these other laws?
The casino laws in Illinois are extremely archaic. Casinos would be forced to operate off of barges / river boats because of some outdated law stating that they could not operate on land. That doesn’t make any sense at all.
Most casino, poker and betting laws in the USA are created by narrow-minded Bible thumpers trying to save your soul. These same people fully support other forms of gambling though:
- Lotto tickets – Out of every $10 you spend on lotto tickets you are essentially ripping that $10 bill in half since 50%+ of the proceeds go to the government. Let’s put that in perspective. If you placed a $10 wager on Roulette you would be getting $9.48 in value. Regular lotto players are twice as likely to live in poverty compared to regular casino patrons. What hurts people more?
- Church bingo / casino night / raffles – People “gamble” at church and festival bingo games all of the time. Here is the definition of gambling: Play games of chance for money. In bingo you are risking your money to win other people’s money. The downside is that when you play bingo at a church you also lose half of your money’s value. When compared to playing Keno at a casino you are basically throwing money out of the window. The hypocrisy is tangible since most bingo players are old church-going ladies who condemn casino gamblers as sinners.
The gambling expansion bill in Illinois would have created a big boom. Four casinos around the state plus one in Chicago would have generated enough money to do so much for the State. Illinois has the largest deficit in the country ($43.8 billion as of 06/12) so turning down a billion dollars per year is worthy of impeachment in my eyes, especially over a supposed “morality” issue. If casino gambling and gambling in general was so bad for Illinois we would have shut down the 10 brick and mortar casinos already here as well as the horse and dog racing tracks.