“Let the People Vote”
THE ‘SWEET HOME ALABAMA PLAN’: Let the people vote on bingo
By Bob Blalock
April 19, 2009, 2:04AM
The people of Alabama should have the choice whether electronic bingo should be regulated and taxed. Electronic bingo already exists in our state. The state attorney general has ruled that it is legal.
Tens of thousands of Alabama citizens have voiced their support for the “Sweet Home Alabama Plan,” a measure that will strictly regulate bingo operations and annually generate hundreds of millions of new tax dollars for our state. These tax dollars would be used to improve our schools, hire additional teachers and provide better health care for our uninsured children and senior citizens. The choice should be ours to make.
However, Gov. Bob Riley and the Mississippi casino bosses know “we the people” are capable of making this decision for ourselves and that the citizens of this state overwhelmingly support the Sweet Home Alabama Plan. Accordingly, the governor, under the casino bosses’ influence, has initiated a perverted campaign to deny the people the right to vote.
While the governor continues to brush off allegations of such influence, a recent editorial in The Birmingham News said, “Riley got at least a half million dollars during his 2002 gubernatorial race that surely looks like it came from a lobbyist for Indian casinos.” It appears the Choctaws in Mississippi were protecting their investments by trying to influence Alabama politics.
Riley claims the Sweet Home Alabama Plan will create a monopoly for gambling operators in Alabama. This is just another lie in his campaign to deny the people the right to vote. Clearly, a monopoly does not exist when 14 points of destination compete in the open market for entertainment dollars against each other. Additionally, the plan provides a method for other counties to adopt electronic bingo in the future if they so choose.
However, should the governor’s tainted efforts to abuse his office, deny the people the right to vote, limit free speech and unlawfully enter and seize property lead to the elimination of charitable electronic bingo, he will be guilty of creating a monopoly for the Poarch Creek Indians and their three Alabama casinos, which are exempt from state and local taxes.
Riley continues his campaign of lies in a newspaper article he authored by suggesting tax rates under the Sweet Home Alabama Plan will be the lowest in the nation. First, Alabama currently has the lowest gambling tax rate in the nation: 0 percent. Second, the 20 percent tax rate in the Sweet Home Alabama Plan is more than double the state gambling tax imposed by the three largest gambling states of Nevada, New Jersey and Mississippi.
The governor also ignores the fact we are surrounded by gambling states that are profiting off the backs of Alabamians. Tennessee and Georgia are paying college tuitions for thousands of students off the proceeds of regulated gambling. How many more out-of-state scholarships are we going to fund before we turn our attention to the needs of our students here in Alabama?
The governor rejects the significant economic development potential of the Sweet Home Alabama plan while using the same economic models to promote the benefits of other tourism enterprises. The plan creates tens of thousands of jobs, 14 tourist destinations across our state and will generate much-needed tax revenues to support our struggling local economies.
My new development in southeast Alabama, Country Crossing, will look like Mayberry USA — nothing like Las Vegas — but it will be an entertainment extravaganza. It will include celebrity-themed venues like George Jones Possum Holler Dinner Theater and Museum; Darryl Worley’s Worleybird Cafe and other venues by Tracy Lawrence, John Anderson and Lorrie Morgan. There will be an amphitheater concert series that will feature artists like Clint Black, Aaron Tippin and Marty Stuart.
Of course, there will be many shops, hotels and restaurants. You might even find yourself eating a steak next to the likes of Randy Owen. Later phases will include a family entertainment center and a water park.
I was born and raised in Alabama. My interest is in the entertainment industry, not bingo. But bingo can be the catalyst to make Alabama an entertainment destination.
A few years ago, Riley had no problem asking the citizens of Alabama to vote on the biggest tax increase in Alabama history, and the Alabama Legislature voted overwhelmingly to “let the people vote” on that measure. So why is the governor working so hard to prevent the people of Alabama from voting on the Sweet Home Alabama Plan? Is it politics or ego?
I believe it’s both. Call your state lawmakers and tell them to “let the people vote.”
Ronnie Gilley is president and CEO of Country Crossing and a member of the Sweet Home Alabama Coalition.
E-mail: ronnie@sweethomealabamacoalition.com; Web site: www.countrycrossingalabama.com
IT IS OUR RIGHT TO VOTE ON WHAT EFFECTS ALABAMA! WE ARE 20 YEARS BEHIND BECAUSE CHEATS AND LIARS LIKE RILEY! I SAY PUT HIM OUT WITH NOTHING, LIKE HE HAS DONE TO THIS STATE! AFTER ALL WITH ALL THE MONEY HE HAS MADE OFF THE INDIANS HE SHOULD BE FINE WITHOUT ANYMORE FROM OUR STATE!
I agree . Bob Riley will, without a doubt, go down in history as the most corrupt Governor Alabama has ever had.
Well, I had second opinions but I guess the picture is clearer now. Thanks God for your site and the net. Best Respects, Yours Biggest Fan