My good friend, and former Pa State Legislator Jeff Coleman today shared an article on Facebook from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on the damage caused by gambling addiction. When Jeff was in the legislature, he was a strong and strategic ally to those of us on the outside who were fighting Gov. Rendell’s push to bring casino gambling to our Commonwealth. Sadly, despite more than a decade of successfully fending off the gambling industry here in Pennsylvania, in the wee hours of the morning of Independence Day, 2004, the legislature succumbed to the false claims of the gambling cartel, and the unrelenting pressure of a Governor who craved casinos like a addict seeking his next fix.
Here’s what Jeff wrote this morning on Facebook, and the link to the Post-Gazette article:
“When Governor Rendell labeled casino gambling opponents in the legislature sincere, but misguided religious objectors, we said no, gambling had deep social and economic costs we would collectively share. In less than a decade of our big gaming experiment, evidence mounts. The organized gambling lobby misled taxpayers and communities in Pennsylvania are paying a painfully high price. Legalizing 60,000+ slot machines in a single day wasn’t worth the risk – it was my saddest hour in public office. ”
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/theft-just-one-sign-of-gambling-addiction-676888/
