Bangor Daily News, Nov. 26
A recent alliterative observation about racino was memorable but probably off by one level of government.
Of the November vote on the slot machines, Stan Bergstein, vice president of the Harness Tracks of America, identified developer Shawn Scott as “the man who sold the racino version of the Brooklyn Bridge to the trusting burghers of Bangor.” More likely, however, is that he is the man who sold the racino version of the Manhattan metro to the multitudes of Maine.
The city negotiated an agreement within the norm of the gaming industry, according to Christiansen Capital Advisors, a New Gloucester company that is expert in the industry. Along with a $30 million redevelopment of Bass Park, Bangor would receive at least $2 million annually through the property lease, taxes and a portion of the slot-machine proceeds. …
The state, however, largely stayed away from negotiations on what voters approved, and Maine predictably did less well because of it. The numbers from the Office of Fiscal and Program Review are still under review, but it is fairly clear it will cost the state several million dollars a year to oversee the new gambling, with the General Fund losing an additional $10 million or $20 million a year from diminished lottery sales and pari-mutuel revenues. …
The Baldacci administration likes the results of the racino initiative less and less as it picks through the initiative’s language. What is the floor, the bottom percentage, for the amount paid back to slot machine bettors? There’s none listed. Why is the compensated administrative cost so much lower than the predicted actual cost? And what went on to create the extensive pre-election agreement among developers, horse track owners, OTB parlors, horsemen and owners? …
But the state has some practical decisions to make. It may try to amend the racino bill to clarify the regulatory and fiscal responsibilities that were missed in the first version of the bill, or it may consider repealing the bill with the public ratification at the next election.
The state is very unlikely to let the law stand in its current form and it should not, though repealing it is an extreme step. Certainly, it would have been more helpful if the state had treated the proposal from Bangor more seriously before the vote.
Jackson faces serious charges
The Post-Standard, Syracuse, N.Y., Nov. 23
With one of the most successful and eccentric musical recording stars of all time facing a likely trial … there may be a tendency to minimize the seriousness of the charges.
But Michael Jackson is accused of molesting a child – the second time he has been charged with such an offense in little over a decade. It’s a serious, horrendous accusation. It is not the fantasy plot of a fictitious made-for-TV movie. It is not a tabloid-engineered, sensationalized “scoop” that offers as much weight as the alien-next-door story.
It has the backdrop of cotton-candy Hollywood, but this is real. If the charges are true, then a 12-year-old child has been terribly traumatized by a trusted adult. … If the charges are not true, then Jackson … has been falsely accused of a crime for which recovery is almost impossible. …
This is serious. The accused may have been the subject of numerous jokes, but child molestation is never a laughing matter.
Demands on rule of law
Berlingske Tidende, Copenhagen, Denmark, Nov. 26
Evidently the United States doesn’t want to take any chances in the war against terrorism, including the part of the war against terrorism that takes place in Guantanamo. The thought of releasing a prisoner because of lack of evidence after which he will fly a plane into another skyscraper is not thrilling. It is difficult to demand the rule of law for people who went to Afghanistan to fight for murderous regimes and terror organizations. They certainly were not in the mountains as tourists.
The official acts of war in Afghanistan … are over, and a two-year period to find evidence of criminal acts should be more than sufficient. No matter the kind of terrorism, a state can not simply lock up people without a trial until they die.
It’s time for civil unions
The Daily Telegraph, London, Nov. 25
The time has come to give homosexual couples some legal recognition. …
The government is expected to propose that homosexuals be allowed to become “registered civil partners” and assume some of the same rights and responsibilities, as a married couple. …
There is no good reason why a homosexual man or woman, bereaved after decades of faithful union, should face the additional burden of selling a shared home to meet death duties when a partner dies. … It is perverse that existing law should actively discourage any two people in a lifelong relationship from enjoying legal and financial security. … Allowing gay people to affirm their relationship within a civil contract does not undermine the institution of marriage. It might even reinforce it. We will all benefit from greater recognition of stable relationships, of whatever kind.
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