Please remember to vote NO on Issue 3. We shouldn’t amend Ohio’s Constitution to give a few out-of-state people special rights that are denied to all Ohioans.
Ohio’s absentee voting has begun. Or should I call it the early voting? After all, any registered Ohio voter can use the absentee voting method, even if you don’t plan to be absent on Election Day, November 3, 2009. Here’s what the Ohio Secretary of State’s website has to say about absentee voting, FYI.
Buckeye RINO 
September 30, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Buckeye Rino – as I’ve told you before, I am not against gambling, but I am against Issue 3. Now more than ever. After the announcement today about the tax increase, or lack of tax decrease, I am furious. Ohio Senator Bill Seitz has told us, and signed an affidavit saying that the people behind the lawsuit that caused this mess are the Issue 3 casino owners. It makes sense because if they win the election then they would be getting rid of the competition at the race tracks and truly have a casino monopoly in Ohio. Do they expect us to pay higher taxes so they can enjoy this monopoly? Someone really needs to call these companies out and get the truth. Paying higher taxes hits everyone in the state. This may be the issue that unites the pro-gambling residents with the opponents against issue 3. For this reason, I’m definitely voting against it.
September 30, 2009 at 5:41 pm
I think this vote is gonna be very close. I think in the end it fails, but take nothing for granted.
September 30, 2009 at 8:56 pm
JT, thanks for commenting. Feel free to head down to your county’s Board of Elections any weekday now to cast your vote during this early voting window, so you can scratch voting off your “to do” list because it’s already been accomplished. Then, when election day rolls around, you can breathe easy and watch election results roll in from a comfortable armchair.
Ben, thanks for commenting. For sure, I’m not taking anything for granted.
October 2, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Regardless of your feelings on gambling, using the amendment process to create a constitutional monopoly for any type of business is simply wrong.
Local radio in Toledo (WSPD) interviewed a representative of the gambling interests today who made an interesting statement that a constitutional amendment was not required for the legislature to approve casino gambling without explaining why then they were looking for one. He went on to say in effect, ‘of course the amendment would be limited to the restricted sites, otherwise how could anyone justify the all of the money being invested in the casinos’.
J P Morgan would be proud to know that Ohio still understands that we need the best legislation (and government) that money can buy.
October 2, 2009 at 7:11 pm
No doubt, these casino lobbyists like to control the propaganda, entertain softball questions, and dodge the full gauntlet of the vetting process. When they are cornered into answering a hardball question, such as the one you mentioned from WSPD, the answers do tend to show the emperor is wearing no clothes.
One of the questions I asked from the get-go was from a Libertarian angle: “If America is, by its nature, is intended to be a land of opportunity and free enterprise, and if Ohio voters favor legalization of casinos, why limit competition by creating a casino cartel, as your proposal intends, instead of allowing anyone to open up, own, and operate casinos wherever the zoning of Ohio’s communities permit them?”
The answer received from that question, and even the rebuttal to my assessment of the answer prove that the casinos have little regard for extending personal liberties, it’s all about plundering and influence-peddling, it’s very territorial, and it’s obvious that any gambling faction has no intention of allowing a freely competitive marketplace.
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