Friday, December 18, 2009

Sam Rohrer: Free the Hostages

State Rep. Sam Rohrer, R-Berks, a candidate for Pennsylvania governor, has sent a scathing message to supporters blasting the current governor and the Democratic leadership in the House for linking state funding to colleges with passage of expanded gambling.

Here is Rohrer's comments:
Lobbyists for Organized Gambling are at it again! This time, their ally-in-chief, Governor Ed Rendell and a majority in the state House of Representatives are holding up hundreds of millions of dollars in higher education funding to Pitt, Penn State, Lincoln and Temple in an unprecedented push to legalize high-stakes, casino table games.

This bill is truly insidious.

In addition to giving casino operators a discounted 14% tax rate (as opposed to a 55% rate for slots), they will now be able to issue lines of credit to prospective gamblers. That’s right, predatory, credit card gambling.

Friends, you know the truth about this destructive lie. When Pennsylvania approved a state lottery, it was billed as the savior for senior programs. When they approved off-track betting, small games of chance and later 67,000 slot machines were proposed and approved, they came with a promise - easy cash to fund worthy programs.

To date friends, Pennsylvania's political leaders have embraced gambling, but failed to deliver the promised windfall profit. Sounds like a Ponzi scheme to me doesn't it?

This afternoon, we're headed back to the House floor to debate this bad bill. The deck is stacked, the special interests are getting ready to celebrate, but there is still hope!

Will you please contact your state representative this afternoon? Visit the Pennsylvania Family Institute to see who needs to hear from you, and the best way to get connected.

This battle is worth the 5-minute investment of your time and energy. Will you help take on Organized Gambling?

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sam is right. My sense is, he'll be the only guy in the race that isn't monied up with gambling connected contributions for potential operators. I'll be supporting Sam in the Primary, and hope the GOP State Committee sees the power of having a smart, policy-saavy candidate leading the ticket -- not just a celebrity.

December 19, 2009 at 10:36 AM 

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