An odd view — 04/12/08

Sat, May 17 2008

— Give Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo credit for adding a new twist to the question of morality and gambling. While this and other Kentucky newspapers have received numerous letters from readers who are convinced that it is immoral to gamble, Mongiardo told a recent gathering in Paintsville that it was “immoral” not to pass a casino gambling bill.
Immoral not to expand gambling? Now that’s a view that is sure to have preachers and their followers throughout the state scratching their heads in bewilderment.
Here’s Mongiardo’s reasoning: Without casinos at race tracks in the state, Kentucky would lose at least 100,000 jobs in the horse industry.
“We have about 10,000 jobs in the horse breeding industry,” the lieutenant governor told a gathering of the Johnson County Democratic Party. “We have to stop other states from attracting our horses and our jobs. If there is no gambling, the jobs may pull out.”
Maybe so. But what does that have to do with morality?
“If you hear people speak about the ills of gambling, remind them of the ills of losing 10,000 jobs,” Mongiardo said., “There are a lot of moral issues here. It is immoral to lose jobs. This is a topic I feel very passionate about. It’s not a political issue. It’s a moral issue to lose jobs.”
Mongiardo is barking up the wrong tree here. Expanded gambling is a political issue, one that is, of course, dead for this year. By arguing that bringing casinos into the state is the moral thing to do, the lieutenant governor is only adding fuel to the arguments of gambling opponents who take the opposite view.
The failure of Gov. Steve Beshear to get even the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives to approved an expanded gambling amendment shows just how much work the governor and pro-gambling forces have to do to place an amendment before voters. Mongiardo’s far-fetched moral argument won’t help their cause one iota.