"Haley Barbour is on target with his effort to deter the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians from its planned expansion of casino gaming into Jones County.

It’s not just that the residents of Jones County don’t want the enterprise. It’s that what the Choctaws have proposed is a low-investment enterprise that does little to enhance this state while facilitating all the social ills associated with gaming.

The Jones County proposal is nothing like the glitzy, resort-style casino enterprises the Choctaws opened in Neshoba County under their late chief, Phillip Martin. Beasley Denson, Martin’s successor, has his tribe now pointed toward the low-rent district.

The Choctaws, as approved by their self-governing tribal council earlier this month, would erect a 27,000-square-foot building with about 500 to 700 slot machines and a snack shop. Whoop-de-do.

That sounds like nothing more than a money machine for the Choctaws, providing limited employment, no lasting infrastructure and no amenities that would draw people from outside the state. All this type of casino would do is get the locals — including some of the Choctaws’ own tribal members — to throw away their rent and grocery money."

Get the Story:
Editorial: 'Slot parlor' would do nothing for state (The Greenwood Commenwealth 6/24)

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