Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.issues From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: issues Thu, Apr 2 1992 Date: Thu, 2 Apr 92 05:44:59 EST Message-ID: 04-02 0000 DECISIONLINE: Issues & Debate USA TODAY Update April 2, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Here are some of the issues and topics being debated across the nation Thursday morning in USA TODAY: Gambling; Congress. TODAY'S DEBATE - LEGALIZED GAMBLING: USA TODAY'S OPINION: One year ago Wednesday, legalized riverboat gambling churned back onto the Mississippi River. Thursday, Chicago officials salivate at the offer from three major resort chains to build a $2 billion resort-casino complex in the lakeside city. Tomorrow, experts predict, almost everyone will be within an easy day's drive of a casino. Great news, say cash-strapped localities eying the revenue expected from a growth industry offering steady jobs and 1990 profits of $25.9 billion. Don't bet on it. Legal casino gambling - well run, well regulated - isn't always a disaster. But too often, it's just a sly tax tarted up and paraded as a dream for sale. For 8 million people - including 1 million teen-agers - that dream is a nightmare. They are compulsive gamblers, 5% of all who bet. ... More than 100 gambling operations, including casinos, attract millions of dollars to Indian reservations - many of them starkly impoverished. ... Glittering casinos also have brought millions of people and dollars to Atlantic City. But they haven't produced enough in-city jobs or taxes to reverse the rot crumbling neighborhoods within an easy stroll of the gaming tables. Promises of money. Promises of jobs. But for too many people in too many places, legalized gambling has proved to be only a sucker's bet. OTHER VIEW: RICHARD M. DALEY, mayor of Chicago: Concern that a proposed hotel and entertainment complex in Chicago will hook the Windy City on gambling-related revenues ignores Chicago's diverse economy and unique attractions. Chicago is neither a dying beach town nor an empty stretch of desert. ... Chicago balanced its budget three years in a row without increasing the property tax over 1989 levels, through better management, privatization and other cost-saving initiatives. Chicago is hardly in need of a life preserver like gaming to bail us out of fiscal straits. ... The proposal for a $2 billion privately financed hotel:theme park:entertainment complex is a show of great confidence in Chicago that will bring real jobs to the region at a time when people are struggling. Gambling will never be our bread and butter; however, tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in tax revenues are a lot of gravy. VOICES ACROSS THE NATION ON WOMEN IN CONGRESS MAKING A DIFFERENCE: GAITHERSBURG, Md., Regina H. Norman, 31, research associate: We need more women in Congress. The difference would be that women would bring to light, and have more sensitivity for, family issues like day care and abortion - and other issues that women are strongly involved in. CHICAGO, Ill., Jack Burgeman, 68, retired: If we had more women in Congress and in politics, the USA would be a much more pleasant country because women can bear pain much more easily than men. They're more tolerant, mentally tougher and more considerate and, therefore, would be great leaders. LA CROSSE, Wis., Andrea Hoesley, 28, teacher: The issues would be different if there were more women members. People just assume that there are going to be only white males in Congress. But I think the most-qualified people, whether men, women or minorities, should be able to serve in Congress. SELMA, Ala., Michael Brooks, 41, pastor: More women in Congress would make it more representative. That's what Congress is for. It certainly would make it better balanced. Women are in the majority in the USA. Maybe family concerns would be brought to the forefront. That would be good: Family is the bedrock of our society. GILBERT, Ariz., Mary Titus, 33, sales representative: It would tend to give a more rounded picture of issues because women would look at things in a different light, such as the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. If you had women on those committees, they might be asking different questions. Issues & Debate Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM