Last week we ran a story about Bowling Green and gambling.

Turns out the paper there isn’t the only one to come out and state its opinion.

Get a load of this Messenger-Inquirer editorial from Owensboro:

On Tuesday, Beshear introduced a bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Damon Thayer of Georgetown that will add up to seven casinos — five of them connected to horse tracks — around the state. Part of the governor’s strategy is making it into a “voters decsion” by placing the casino amendment on the ballot if it passes the General Assembly.

We also found it no coincidence that on the previous Friday a coalition of business, labor and education groups came out in support of the governor’s “racino” initiative that sets an absurd criteria of where casinos can go in the state and unfairly gives a clear advantage to horse track owners.

What better way to provide cover for the governor and the legislators than to have David Adkisson, president of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and Stu Silberman, executive director of the Prichard Committee, backing expanded gaming.

Adkisson, former mayor of Owensboro, and Silberman, former Daviess County Public Schools superintendent, are two well-respected men in their fields who have now seemingly sold out.

How else can we explain them supporting casino gambling — something that goes against good business and education principles.

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Supposedly, Silberman has the blessing of several of Kentucky’s top educational groups — the Kentucky Education Action Team, which represents the Kentucky Parent Teacher Association, Kentucky School Boards Association and the Kentucky Association of School Councils.

But when we spoke to Frank Riney, the chairman of the Daviess County school board, and Nancy Eskridge, chairwoman of the Owensboro city school board, both said they were not in favor of using casinos to fund education.

-SNIP-

If our two local school board officials are against expanded gaming is Silberman really speaking for the majority of educators out there?

-SNIP-

No one is denying more money is needed for education. But Silberman and other educators are grasping for anything that generates a dollar when they should be fighting unfunded mandates and other state policies that rob school districts of precious funds.

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Further more, the General Assembly should not pass the buck by hiding behind the weak position that “the people should decide.” More importantly we should not provide constitutional distinction and protection to a tax through government-run gambling.

We must not provide constitutional standing to a business whose sole purpose is to make losers and not winners.

That’s taking two of the favorite sons to the woodshed for being accomplices if we’ve ever seen such.

Ouch.

No wonder this effort is seemingly dead in the water.