Maryland Slots debate heats up, baby.

So what do you do when your employer (candidate) drops out of a race he probably could have won? You start consulting on various causes since you have to make a living. Scott Arceneaux, the former Doug Duncan campaign manager and darling of James Carville who came North to take on Martin O'Malley is senior advisor to the anti-slots group, Marylanders United to Stop Slots. A number of other former Duncan aides are also working for the group.

In two emails I've received from MUSS (I suppose because I was on Duncan's email list) there has been a grassroots theme to resists slots and some spurious arguments that gambling increases crime rates. While casino gambling does seem to increase crime in nearby areas, a few slot machines at race tracks (uh, don't they have gambling there already) are not going to turn Laurel into a sleazy, crime infested den of gambling addicts.

The simple answer to the Maryland slots debate is the Democratic administration wants dollars so let them have slots and the revenue. They are going to get their revenue to expand government one way or another, either from slots or from additional tax increases. I think we've had enough tax hikes so let in the "one armed bandits"!