THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 1, 1997 TAG: 9702010003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 63 lines
When the National Gambling Impact Study Commission Act was signed into law last year, it created a nine-member ``blue ribbon'' commission to study the effects of gambling on the nation.
A comprehensive study is sorely needed by a country gone mad for gambling.
But, predictably, the politicians responsible for appointing the commissioners have been considering and selecting pro- and anti-gambling partisans at such a rate that the commission promises to look more like the panel of ``Crossfire'' than a ``blue ribbon'' panel by the time it finally meets.
Consider three of the first five appointees: Kay Cole James, a former member of the Allen Administration and now on the faculty of Pat Robertson's Regent University; James Dodson of the conservative radio show ``Focus on the Family'' - neither likely to be gambling enthusiasts; and on the other extreme, J. Terrence Lanni, chairman of the MGM Grand Casinos.
Two other appointees, former California Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy and Dr. Paul Moore, a Mississippi radiologist, appear to be objective bystanders uninvolved in the gambling debate.
But someone didn't do their math. The anti-gambling forces - who pushed for the commission in the first place - are now worried that they will be outnumbered by pro-gambling commissioners when President Clinton announces his three appointees and Richard Gephardt announces his one.
U.S. Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-Va., an ardent opponent of gambling and one of the supporters of the commission, has been faxing newspapers furiously this week urging them to pressure Clinton not to appoint from the ranks of the pro-gambling forces that contributed heavily to Democratic campaigns last year.
But Clinton seems poised to do just that, and so does the House Democratic leader.
According to New York Times columnist William Safire, Clinton's short list includes Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible, who would be out of work without the gaming industry to control; and a Minnesota Native-American from a tribe heavily dependent on gambling.
Gephardt is reportedly about to appoint John Wilhelm, a Las Vegas labor leader.
This should surprise no one who has been studying the swamp of soft money that contaminated the last election. The gambling industry flooded the federal elections with an estimated total of $4.4 million last year. And Indian tribes contributed their share: $1.2 million to Democrats, $100,000 to Republicans.
The only regret of anti-gambling foes, apparently, is that they didn't succeed in loading the body with their own folks.
What a pity that a commission that has not even met yet is already discredited because of the blatant political agenda of those making the appointments and the vested interest of the appointees.
Meanwhile, gambling is spreading around the country like a weirdly mutating virus. Nearly every state has a lottery, many have pari-mutuel betting augmented by off-track betting and slot machines, several states have full-blown casinos, others have riverboat gambling and Native-Americans have welcomed casinos on their cash-poor reservations.
All in all, legalized gambling is a half-trillion-dollar-a-year industry in the U.S. according to Safire, and is growing fast.
An objective commission to study the effects of gambling on society and the economy is desperately needed. But one composed of largely zealous members of the political right and of the gaming industry can serve no useful purpose and is unlikely to reach impartial conclusions.