Still, I have plenty to say about the Election Process.
Being a progressive, I can’t complain too much about the results, I guess, but
I CAN complain about the process, and what better way to illustrate the
failings of our national political system than…poker.
- In a word - MONEY.
- In two words - Special Interests.
- In another two words - States Rights.
If you followed some of the down-ballot results from
election night, you’ll see that it was a pretty good night for poker and
gaming. Rhode Island voters allowed expansion at one casino into table games
(poker and blackjack) while defeating a similar measure for another casino
(local voters held the talking stick here).
In Oregon, two casino expansion measures lost, but in Maryland, a casino
expansion measure won allowing for both table games at existing casinos, and a
new (6th) casino in that state.
What’s illustrative for our discussion is that in Maryland
and in Oregon, opposition came from casino interests. To be sure, there were OTHER casino interests
that were in FAVOR of the measure, but unlike years ago when it was the casino
business versus the religious right, now it’s casino vs. casino; money vs.
money; those who are already in vs. those who want a piece of the action.
In Oregon it was the Native American casinos against the new
non-Indian casino hopefuls; in Maryland it was MGM battling Penn National. And in both cases, the winners spent more
money. Plain and simple as that.
Another ballot issue I was passionate about suffered similarly. Polls have shown repeatedly that as many as
2/3rds of Americans want food containing GMO ingredients to be labeled, and
California’s Prop 37 was designed to do just that; the first in this country to
do so (GMO labeling is common in Europe, Asia…heck, most everywhere else). Early polls showed this measure winning handily,
but then gobs of money from Monsanto and Hershey for TV ads spelled its
doom. Bummer.
So money rules. We
knew that. More than SIX BILLION spent
on this election cycle, and truthfully, just to re-elect most of the
incumbents. As if we didn’t already know
what most of them stood for. Six billion
to convince the undecideds? You can’t
tell me that $6 billion couldn’t be used for something else, like….I dunno,
flood relief, or school improvements, or job creation, or…SOMETHING WORTHWHILE?
Enough of that screed…on to point three.
I’ve lived in four states, and I currently enjoy living in
Oregon where EVERYONE votes by mail. No
lines. No problems. No hanging chads. I have voted previously by punch cards and
machines (old and new). I have waited in
line (nothing like some of the folks I saw in Ohio). I have been the only one in the building voting
(like in the white neighborhood in Ohio I saw on TV). The fact that every state has its own system
and its own methods and its own process seems to work OK until it doesn’t. Again, some districts were late in counting
ballots. Some had machine
screw-ups. If you look at voting in
other countries, they don’t seem to have the issues we do. And that’s because they have a national voting
system. We do it state by state.
And now we’re talking, finally, about legalizing poker, but
again, it’s not a national system, but state by state. Nevada for
Nevadans. Maryland for Marylanders (or
whatever they call themselves). And so
on. Yes, horse racing and lotteries
overcame the intrastate issue (pooled pari-mutuel betting and PowerBall). But will/can poker do likewise? Players won’t be thrilled with small
populations and limited choices (see: PokerStars and Full Tilt). Poker won’t experience the growth it had back
in 2003-6 unless there’s a BIG (read: National/International) pool of
participants. That means legalizing
poker on a national scale.
Is that possible with the current/new congress and
Obama? Time will tell, but someone should
call for the clock.
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