We agree (!) with Progress Illinois re: casinos
While we disagree with her views on hiking taxes, we do agree with Angela Caputo’s post - A Losing Bet on Casinos - over at Progress Illinois.
Angela makes many of the same points we make here, namely that casinos are not the panacea that some lawmakers claim:
Despite a growing body of evidence that gaming is not the quick fix lawmakers would like to believe, Illinois officials can’t seem to let it go. The reason seems fairly simple: it takes less political courage to hand out a gaming license than adopt sustainable and progressive revenue sources.
Where we begin to differer, however, is what constitutes a “sustainable and progressive revenue” source.
As Progress Illinois is a liberal blog, they no doubt favor the good ol’ “high tax = new revenue source” model.
We, however, choose to follow history, which clearly shows that, while higher taxes equal increased revenue in the short term, they squelch production and growth and lead to economic contraction in the longer term.
But, more on that debate later.
For now, let’s just point out our agreement on the casino issue. It is not a substitute for a real, meaningful, common sense economic growth plan.
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