As much as I disdain Question 7, I grudgingly appreciate the
amount of money it has poured into the Maryland
economy this fall. The ballot question to expand gambling may be the most
egregious example legislative shenanigans to ever befall our state but it has
been a windfall for the local advertising and public relations industry. Both sides of the issue
have poured millions into various media outlets to try and sway voters.
It’s even giving people jobs. A friend who is working an
early polling site for one of the better school board candidates (Gertler,Giles, Siddiqui, Scott) told me that MGM is paying people a hundred bucks a day
to ask voters to vote “yes” on Question 7 while Penn National is paying people
to ask voters to vote “no.”
“The folks are dropped off by a van, photographed
periodically to make sure they are there working hard, and picked up at the end
of the evening.”
Imagine if that kind of money were available for the really
important stuff like the HoCo charter issues.
Sigh.
The other day I asked Waterboy how he was planning to vote
on Question 7. Waterboy is a 2010 college grad with a good job. He recently bought his first home. “I’m voting for
it,” he replied. He told me his reason was that he supports adding table games
in Maryland .
I do too but the bill that is being put in front of the
voters is about much more than table games. It’s about Maryland politics at its lowest. Our legislators
can easily add table games to the current casinos without adding a new one in National Harbor Annapolis that you’re tired of those who put
personal politics ahead of the common good.
