Troy King: Gambling on Gambling

Troy King has made a big gamble on our state's future. I've analyzed the detrimental impact of gambling on Alabama in the past, and I won't revisit it today. Instead, I want to look this afternoon at Troy King's intriguing responses on the issue.

As a conservative, I remember laughing at John Kerry in 2004 when he attempted to defend a vote by saying: "I voted for it, before I voted against it." We all laughed at this statement, but now some so-called conservatives attempt to defend Troy King for doing what is effectively the same thing. Troy King won't give us a clear opinion on gambling. Many of his supporters, like developer Ronnie Gilley, will. They will tell you that gambling is great for economic growth, and it brings jobs to repressed regions of the state. Now, I have responded to this argument in the past, and I will summarize my response here. I looked to the Huntsville Times editorial which called gambling a source of "phantom revenue," meaning that it was unreliable. Look at states like Nevada, which have seen revenues plummet by some 2/3 since the economic crisis has forced less tourism. Next, I looked to a fundamental conservative principle--morality. Edmund Burke, considered by many to be the first traditional conservative, summarized his moral philosophy simply--you have no right to do a wrong. With using gambling as a revenue source to fund state sources, you are doing something wrong. In a time of economic crisis, when people have less to spend, the state has to hope that people will choose to gamble, in order to keep funding state services like education. This creates a perverse incentive for the state to not only promote, but also actively encourage gambling, and that just doesn't make sense in an economic crisis. Finally, I encourage folks to look at Indian reservations and rural communities which have gaming establishments. These are not success stories. On Indian reservations, where gambling has been a major mode of economic development for several decades, only more depression and alcohol problems have ensued. I challenge anyone to point to an area where gambling was built either ethically or successfully. Even where it has been successful, in places like Las Vegas or Atlantic City, it has often financed or been financed by shady groups and activities.

HOWEVER, that is not what Troy King is willing to argue. He is not willing to step out and engage in this issue like Democrats Artur Davis and Ron Sparks. He engaged in stealth warfare, legalizing gambling under narrow exceptions and claiming that he is being a true conservative and "following the law." I have big problems with this argument. First, other conservatives have viewed this issue and reached the opposite conclusion. Jeff Sessions, Bill Pryor, Bob Riley, and Riley's anti-gaming task force have all added their eyes to the issue, and they have all reached the same conclusion--it is not legal. These men certainly seem like conservatives to me. Second, as the Birmingham News has noted, the courts of Alabama, traditionally ruled by conservative Republicans, have refused to grant the same types of narrow exceptions granted by Troy King. So, if Troy King is right, his logic defies the logic of EVERY SINGLE other conservative in Alabama. Everyone else has reached a conclusion which differs from Troy King's.

Finally, Troy King has reached this conclusion on questionable grounds. He was the guest of honor at a party held by developer Ronnie Gilley six weeks before issuing an opinion in his favor. King has also received money from PACs which received hundreds of thousands of dollars from gaming magnate Milton McGregor. So, when you look at the facts, it seems that Troy King's opinion on the matter is based not on his own convictions, but on other political motives.

At the end of the day, the issue is still the same. If this opinion is Troy King's out of conviction, it deviates from that of every major conservative in the state. If this opinion is Troy King's out of corruption, then he has violated the trust of the voters of Alabama. If this is his convcition, his recourse his simple--he should go out and join the Democrats, who agree with him. Ron Sparks and Artur Davis, the Democratic nominees for Governor, have both agreed that gambling is needed for economic growth. If he has been corrupted, he should admit his failings and resign his post. Either way, he should stop masquerading as a conservative on this issue when he clearly is not.