Maryland Republicans may not approve of Gov. Martin O’Malley, but at least a majority of them agree with him on slots. That should tell us all something.
If the vast and bottomless fiscal divide between Democrats and Republicans can be bridged by this issue, fellow citizens, believe there is something good about it.
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According to the most recent Gonzales Research poll, support for the constitutional amendment allowing slots dropped to 49 percent from 54 percent since January.
Over the same time, opposition is up the same amount to 43 percent. With an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percent, that makes it a dead heat.
O’Malley, who made slots a major bet in his “emergency” General Assembly session last year, scored only 45 percent approval in the same poll. And that score is up eight points.
So while the chief proponent’s popularity is rising, his major initiative is dropping. That’s a bad sign.
While 53 percent of men say they support slots, only 45 percent of women do. And 52 percent of independents and half the voters in Southern Maryland’s Washington, D.C., suburbs say they are against.
What those numbers demand is action. Slots proponents must do more to get the message to voters. That message is simple: Slots in surrounding states rob Maryland taxpayers.
This amendment mandates 48.5 to 51 percent of gross revenues for the Education Trust Fund. That will produce about $660 million for an education funding mechanism so broken it never could be repaired before slots money starts to flow. Without slots, taxpayers will have to cough it up — and we already have fiscal pneumonia.
Our state is heading for budget catastrophe as a declining economy drags down revenues, and irresponsible built-in spending increases foreclose nimble response by our moribund governor and General Assembly.
Even if we can force them to begin immediately restructuring our “structural” deficit, rational taxation will not engage for years. It took them decades to dig us into this hole, so they will not get us out quickly.
Slots revenue also will help with college tuition and subsidize health care for the poor.
Face facts, people: All the ills of gambling are here. Illegal slots operate openly throughout the state, and legal machines in all bordering states suck out our money.
The only thing we do not get is any benefit.
This issue not only has united leading Democrats and regular Republicans, it has pulled together teachers, school boards, college presidents, unions, chambers of commerce and the Maryland Retailers Association.
If such disparate interests can see the overwhelming good, this amendment certainly must be best for Maryland.
Get involved. Act now.
WEB EXTRA
To take action click this link:
http://www.formaryland.org/content/action
