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Baby needs new shoes—and road construction, and bridge repairs, and…

With the passage of legislation by the state House and Senate to allow table games in the Commonwealth’s casinos, and Gov. Ed Rendell’s assurance that he will sign it into law, it looks like Pennsylvanians may be able to spend their Fourth of July weekend playing blackjack, craps, roulette and poker without having to trek all the way to Atlantic City (what, you’re going to try and tell me you go to AC for the beaches?).

But this raises some of the same questions asked whenever a state or municipality proposes the legalization—or further legalization—of gambling: Is it wise for any city, town, state or region to base its economic future on gaming? Does the fact that the government in question is making this choice say something about both its short- and long-term economic viability? Is it worth the potential trade-off in moral—or, as anyone who’s gone beyond the Atlantic City boardwalk can attest, economic—decline?

What do you think?

January 7, 2010 at 9:30 am

--Tammy Alonso

Tags: Ed Rendell

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