If Kansas Speedway Casino is to be a winner, we’ll need losers
Pardon me if I sound like an old fart, but is the opening of the new Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway really something to get excited about?
Last Friday our local government officials joined the casino owners, NASCAR bigwigs and girls wearing red feathers in a grand opening hoopla, beaming what a great deal this is for Kansans and the community.
“It’s a win-win for everyone,” said Edwin Birch, of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County.
Unified or not, these officials sounded downright giddy at they explained how this will benefit schools, children, parks, charities, cats and dogs, grandma, and even a state-sponsored “problem gambling” fund. Everybody’s a winner!
You’ll only win of course, if you don’t go there. For all their entertainment value, the primary business of a casino is to shake as much cash as it can out of its customer’s pockets, while making it as much fun as possible. So if you go, it’s pretty much your duty to lose in order for the rest of us to win.
I’ve got nothing against gambling, and people certainly are entitled to spend their money any way they see fit. But let’s be honest, is this shiny new casino really such an economic gain for our region? After the state takes its cut, the rest of those dollars will race straight back to the bank accounts of the corporations running the place: Penn National Gaming and International Speedway.
Oh sure, the Hollywood Casino provides jobs. Probably beats working at the Taco Bell, but generally they are still low-wage service jobs. How many kids grow up wanting to make a career out of laboring in a casino? It’s work and people are happy to get it because right now there aren’t better jobs out there – real jobs, in businesses that actually make things, or provide services.
If casinos are such a “win-win”, and the goal is to generate revenue for the people of Kansas, why doesn’t our government partner up with some glitzy strip-joint operators as well? Maybe the state should look at introducing marijuana into our agricultural economy. At least in the case of dancers or pot growers a tangible product is being provided.
Personally, I’d rather read about a new manufacturing plant opening up, or an established firm expanding its operations. But that doesn’t seem to be happening so much. Instead we get another casino. Sorry, but I think I’ll play the No-Pass line on this one.
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