DISQUS

CapitolFax.com: Question of the day

  • Bill Baar · 3 years ago
    What ever happened to the left's argument that lotteries and legalized gambling was a regressive tax on the poor?

    I don't know if Keno will go through or not. I hope not. It corrupts everything starting with politics.

    I note your post below about Wyman signing on as a lobbyist for these firms.

    If Eisendrath doesn't tash him in the primaries, I hope the Republican can voice the progressive case against gambling and wariness about the biotech's industry efforts to engineer a brave new world (read Jill Stanek's posts on Illinoize) and add that voice to some sensible efforts to promote Illinois's economy to get rid of this guy who should be Springfield but won't live there.
  • Randall Sherman · 3 years ago
    If our embarassment of a Governor tries to ram through this cock-eyed scheme of his, you can be certain that it will be tied up in court for at least a year. At that point, God willing, he'll be ex-Governor Blagojevich and this Keno plan will be tossed out with the rest of the trash.

    After coming up with a stupid idea like this, any African-American clergyman who speaks up on Blagojevich's behalf should be denounced. Putting keno into Illinois would only add to the misery of its low-income residents.
  • Anonymous · 3 years ago
    you also missed this one,
    http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/keno11.html

    quite an accomplishment to get casinos, anti-gaming folks, media and your own rep. united against the same proposal. Plus alienating the GA by circumventing them like he did on stem cell, THEN toss in the culture of corruption card by virtue of the GTech lobbyist, not to mention throwing the flip-flop and desperation doors wide open. Odds of doing all that in one shot are higher then winning in keno.

    Helllllo Edwin.
  • Anonymous · 3 years ago
    why doesnt he put keno in Pilgrim Baptist and handle two problems at once?
  • Pat Hickey · 3 years ago
    If I were a betting man - I'd empty my bank accounts, loot the kids savings, take out two or three new mortagages, kite some checks, and put my life in the jackpot . . . but that's just me.

    I think it's a bad bet.
  • Goodbye Napoleon · 3 years ago
    The Tribune is trying to say that John Wyma used his influence with the governor to get a client to sign on? I'm shocked by that allegation. Shocked I say!
  • zatoichi · 3 years ago
    I thought the Gov previously said there would be no expansion of gambling as a means to get more money. So this is bringing back a Keno that existed, so it is a reinstatement not an expansion? Give 'em points for effort on that logic. If I am a bar owner how much do I get to keep? Can't see this going far but it will make an effective TV ad for someone:
    "I won't use gambling.." followed by
    "Keno is not expansion".
    Underscroll with "Consistent leadership for a change."
  • Matt Varble · 3 years ago
    Bad idea...Video poker and Keno have been termed as video crack in some states that I've visited. The access to it is too easy and it is too addictive to people who enjoy gambling. I've typically seen somebody sitting at a machine in a bar spending away their money, and it's not the type of person who has the disposable income to be doing so..
  • Mr. Sarcastic · 3 years ago
    I think it is a good idea. The money will help our underfunded schools. To those of you that do not like this idea, I ask you "Why do you hate the children so much?"
  • DOWNSTATE · 3 years ago
    I thought the lottery was suppose to fund the schools and this will go into pork projects for the legislators and newly craeted offices for thr governors friends.
  • Anon · 3 years ago
    "Everyone knows the house has an advantage. But most casino patrons don’t realize just how heavily the odds are stacked against them. Take keno, in which you pick a string of numbers, hoping to match them to what the casino randomly generates. The house advantage is at least 25%, increasing with the more numbers you pick, says John Alcamo"
    We are talking about the lottery here. The house, or in this case the state, has at least a 50% take out with lottery and people still bet over a billion dollars a year on it in Illinois.
    I don't think keno is a good idea for Illinois but from just a pure revenue stance for the state it's a can't lose.
  • Can't imagine · 3 years ago
    To Mr. Sarcastic.

    I love kids unfortunately some of them grow up to be Mr. Sarcastics or Rod the Gov. Why not legalize drugs, prostitution as well so these "kids" that you and da Gov are so concerned about can have great schools.
    How many more sound bits will this guy create without thinking of the impact of his proposed programs?
  • Wumpus · 3 years ago
    I say we allow the corner craps games to be legal. 7,7,7 gimme 7-11!
  • Jack · 3 years ago
    It doesn't matter how much money or where it comes from it will never be enough.
  • Anonymous · 3 years ago
    Until a couple of weeks prior to the last veto session, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services worked on the AllKids initiative with the understanding that keno was going to be the funding source. However, the Governor's office pulled the rug out from under HFS and forced them to replace keno with a ill-conceived managed care plan that is going to be very expensive to implement.

    Can you imagine the uproar that an AllKids and keno combination would have caused during the veto session.
  • Reddbyrd · 3 years ago
    Looks like everyone will be keen on Keno. Funniest lines of the day came from the Tribune handwringers who have pimped for the racetracks for years, but now worry about gaming $ for new schools. And of course they also rant about Build Illinois and Illinois First because they found a handful of questionable projects.
    Someone out there with a pile of old lobbo lists needs to tell the world who firt waltzed GTech into IL....I'll think of a prize.
  • BIG R.PH · 3 years ago
    Why do only bars & restraunts get the goodies? Why not grocery stores, pharmacies, laundromats etc? Does the Gov not trust all businesses to make more money for him?
  • Anonymous · 3 years ago
    :Why do only bars & restraunts get the goodies? Why not grocery stores, pharmacies, laundromats etc? Does the Gov not trust all businesses to make more money for him?:

    Sorry, but you are not going to get keno at the Chuck E Cheese. From the website of a state that now has keno:

    Question: How will bars and restaurants stop the sale of these tickets to minors?
    Answer: There is minimal danger of underage players purchasing these tickets, as they are being sold in an age-controlled environment. Patrons of these establishments must be 18 years of age (in some cases, 21 years of age) to enter.
  • Anonymous · 3 years ago
    :Everyone knows the house has an advantage. But most casino patrons don’t realize just how heavily the odds are stacked against them. Take keno, in which you pick a string of numbers, hoping to match them to what the casino randomly generates.:

    Even though keno is the biggest sucker game in a conventional casino, the pay table for keno played in a conventional casino is more favorable to the player than the pay table for keno operated by state lotteries. Remember the old saying: the lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math.
  • Tessa · 3 years ago
    I don't think this will happen, at least I hope this doesn't happen. The Gov can say what he wants, Keno is an expansion on gambling, and it's something he said he wasn't going to do. Oh, wait, he can change his mind. Right, right. That's it. Suddenly that's okay.

    I agree with the earlier post. There will never be enough money.
  • Jack · 3 years ago
    Yes Anon we know that there is no underage drinkers in the bars were they are aged controled drinking.

    The Kino revenue will make it to the schools about the same time as the Lottery money does. NEVER
  • Marie Carnes · 3 years ago
    Places where you don't usually find people under age 18: Nursing homes and senior citizen centers.
  • Cassandra · 3 years ago
    I see a futuristic movie idea here....a world of
    millions of citizens who spend all their time zoned out at the local bar or restaurant playing
    keno, while the world falls apart around them.

    Each keno machine comes equipped with a picture of Blago....
  • Truthful James · 3 years ago
    It seems to me logical that the Keno money should go to provide additional funds for welfare recipients, since they are the bulk of people playing the Lotto as well.

    Say, installing them on CTA seatbacks and shelters as well as on the 'L' Stations and Trains will provide the CTA with some operating funds. And, how about putting them in taxis, so the trip through traffic won't seem so long.
  • Ex-Newfie · 3 years ago
    Right on, Cassandra. I bet Rod the Dodger's name will be on each machine, just like the 37 times it appears in the AllKids online application. What a piece of work he is. A pox on them all.