Link has special interest in casino
In the Sept. 30 edition of the Daily Herald the article on gambling expansion with the local candidates' positions is incomplete. You noted that Sen. Terry Link "has repeatedly voted in favor of adding casinos." Let me point out one very important fact that the people of Sen. Link's district need to know: Terry Link's votes are for sale.
According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, Sen. Link has accepted over $28,800 in campaign contributions from casinos in the last 10 years.
Link believes that casino boats strategically placed in "economically depressed" could share the profit, thus building a better economic situation.
Sen. Link is wrong. Casinos will not help our community economically. As a matter of fact, a casino in the North suburbs would be devastating on our already-burdened economic situation.
According to professor John Kindt of the Bankruptcy Development Journal, a gambling facility costs $3.00 (socio-economic) for every $1.00 generated in tax revenues and 20 percent of addicted gamblers will file for bankruptcy. Additionally, according to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, every problem gambler negatively affects 10 to 17 other people, including family, friends and neighbors. It is important to note that Las Vegas as the highest per capita homeless according to the Las Vegas Review Journal, and that in U.S. counties where gambling is legalized, the bankruptcy rates are 18 percent higher than other counties, says the SMR Research Corp.
If these statistics are in fact the truth, then why would Sen. Link fervently support a casino boat in a struggling community like Waukegan? Follow the money. Connect the dots.
The answer is simple: $28,000.
Jody May
Zion