ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604270018
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
THE $40 BILLION-a-year gambling industry says it does not oppose a national study on the effects of gambling on American society - so long as it is ``fair.''
But the industry's idea of ``fair'' is a study commission that would have no power to subpoena potentially incriminating research documents. (Shades of the tobacco industry!)
It also wants a commission prohibited from fully examining the economic impact of gambling on other businesses.
And the industry's political contributions.
And the relationship between gambling and crime.
And the demographics of gamblers.
And advertising by gambling enterprises, including state-operated lotteries.
Apparently, the only thing the industry wouldn't object to is the commission visiting Las Vegas to check out the new kiddie theme-park water slides.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and other sponsors of the gambling study are rightfully irate that gambling's high-profile lobbyists are attempting to lobotomize the commission - a thinly veiled effort to kill the study altogether. As of this writing, the bipartisan legislation, passed unanimously by the House, has been stopped in its tracks in the Senate.
Noting the millions of dollars that gambling interests contribute to political campaigns, Wolf called this ``a sellout'' to an industry that ``thrives when it operates in the shadows, much like roaches ... .''
He said he's embarrassed that Republicans, who ``go around speaking about family issues,'' are part of the sellout.
Wolf did not mention Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the presumptive GOP nominee for president. But it seems fair to ask why Dole has not jumped on this ``family issue'' the way he earlier attacked the sex, violence and ``nightmares of depravity'' coming from entertainment titans who put ``profit ahead of common decency."
Then again, Dole hasn't attacked tobacco companies for putting profit ahead of decency, either. Such are the politics of vice in Washington today.
Dole says he supports the gambling study, but he's done nothing to move it forward. Is it coincidence that gambling interests have contributed handsomely to his campaign?
Like tobacco merchants and media moguls, the gambling industry proclaims the virtues of free choice and denies the addictive power of its product. It sells itself as entertainment, and disclaims links to social ills such as crime, political corruption and compulsive gambling.
And yet, if the gaming industry has no relation to these``nightmares of depravity,'' why not welcome a national study to clear its name, rather than try to scuttle the gathering and spread of information?
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB