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Casinos No Panacea for Ohio's Economic Malaise

By Sam Staley

They say desperate times call for desperate measures, and economic times seem truly bleak in Wilmington, Ohio. More than 7,000 jobs may soon disappear as the global freight giant DHL shifts its air cargo contract from ABX to UPS in Louisville.

The surprise announcement, understandably, sent the community reeling. Given the quick phase down (operations will likely cease by 2010) and the scale of the lost contract, many are searching a quick fix. A $600 million resort and casino complex certainly seems enticing.

But is it?

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Buckeye Voices

A Buckeye Institute policy study found that Ohio taxpayers could forfeit nearly $1 billion in revenue with the passage of State Issue 6, the casino gambling ballot amendment. Jeffrey Hooke, the study's author, joins Buckeye Institute President David Hansen to discuss his findings on BuckeyeVoices. Hooke is a Buckeye Institute adjunct scholar, and the author of numerous casino gambling revenue studies.

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Featured Event

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Paternalism on the March

The Youngstown Vindicator editorializes, "Ohioans should recognize that payday lenders are an institution whose time has passed. They are a product of a laissez faire attitude that is supposed to reflect an enlightened view that we should all be free to make our own economic decisions — good bad or terrible — and free to succeed or fail on our own."

In Conservatives in the Payday Lending Debate, Buckeye Institute analyst Marc Kilmer writes, "Allowing people to enter into transactions -- even if you personally view them as foolish or unwise -- is the essence of freedom. A government regulation preventing one from taking a payday loan is the same as any other government regulation to remove freedom in the name of political correctness or whatever other rationale bureaucrats use to justify their power over our lives."

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$1 Billion Giveaway

"Two weeks from Tuesday, voters will decide whether to legalize what could be the largest casino in the Midwest - a monster 97-acre complex just off Interstate 71 near Wilmington," reports the Cincinnati Enquirer.

In an analysis of the issue, Buckeye Institute adjunct scholar Jeffrey Hooke concludes, "The right to open a casino in Southwest Ohio would be worth $1 billion if this right was offered at a public, competitive, open auction. In contrast, the referendum grants the right to operate for a modest $15 million fee, which is refunded upon the casino's start-up, so the license is essentially free. A difference of $1 billion in public revenues is not negligible, particularly as the state needs revenues."

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Medicaid's Cost Skyrocketing

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, "Medicaid's growing strain on federal and state budgets is unlikely to abate over the coming decade as the cost of providing health care to the poor is expected to increase 7.9 percent annually, government actuaries reported Friday."

In Ten Facts to Consider Before Expanding Medicaid, Marc Kilmer writes, "While the federal government picks up most of the cost for both CHIP and Medicaid in Ohio, the money is not 'free' as some claim. Instead, the state must spend money to attract the federal match. In addition, the long-term federal funding picture is uncertain. Just like Ohio saw earlier this decade, federal Medicaid funding squeezes other priorities, and there have been a variety of proposals to reform the program. Similarly, the federal SCHIP program (which provides CHIP money to Ohio) is in the process of being reauthorized. Ohio policymakers would be wise to consider the uncertainty of future federal matching funds before obligating the state to spend more on this entitlement program."

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Buckeye Institute in the News

The lawsuit filed by the Buckeye Institute against ACORN for voter registration fraud was covered by a variety of news sources, including the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Dayton Daily News, the Akron Beacon Journal,WKRC, NBC4, the Middletown Journal, the Miami Herald, Human Events, and WCPO.

The Buckeye Institute's study on Issue 6 received coverage in Forbes, the Columbus Dispatch (as well as being mentioned in an editorial), the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Dayton Daily News, the Cincinnati Business Journal, the Akron Beacon Journal, the Middletown Journal, the Springfield News Sun, the Kentucky Post, WLWT, and NBC4. The televisions stations WCMH -- Columbus, WCPO, WKRC, WLWT -- Cincinnati, and ONN News also covered it. Study author Jeff Hooke was interviewed on these radio stations: WIMA-AM, WSPD-AM, WTAM-AM, WLW-AM.

Marc Kilmer was quoted in a Columbus Dispatch story on payday lending.

The Hillsboro Times Gazette published David Owsiany's op-ed on the Ohio Supreme Court and Marc Kilmer's op-ed on the misuse of usury as it pertains to payday lending.