Opinion: Alabama governor's priorities wrong on gaming

Tuesday, January 19, 2010  

"As Gov. Bob Riley and his Rose Bowl entourage tailgated before the University of Alabama dismantled the Texas Longhorns to become college football's undisputed national champion, a plane flew over and around the Pasadena arena pulling a huge banner which read IMPEACH CORRUPT ALABAMA GOVERNOR BOB RILEY.

The banner, pictured below, flew for a full four hours before the game. Perhaps the Californian who appreciated it most was embattled Golden State Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who must have figured the banner suggested Alabama has worse budget problems than his state.

As it turns out, the banner flight was paid for by Tuscaloosa businessman Stan Pate, a constant thorn in Riley's side over economic matters throughout his two terms as governor.

Yet while he was partying in California, Riley's surrogates marshaled over a hundred law enforcement officers to raid the Country Crossing establishment in Houston County which has legal electronic bingo machines. Shutting down this facility would have cost that county thousands of jobs and jeopardized the bond issue backed by the county to build the entertainment facility.

The Republican chairman of the Houston County Commission had to go to Ozark in the county next door to find a judge to issue an order halting the raid on Country Crossing.

Riley's anti-bingo policy not only jeopardizes the Houston County facility, it would devastate three of the poorer counties in the state, Lowndes, Greene and Macon, which depend on bingo facilities for thousands of jobs."

Get the Story:
Bob Martin: Governor has his priorities wrong (The Montgomery Independent 1/18)

Also Today:
Alabama gaming becoming concern for Mississippi casinos (The Dothan Eagle 1/18)

An Opinion:
Rebecca Abrahams: Governor Bob Riley Gambling with Alabama Politics (The Huffington Post 1/18)