Is gambling an issue that can put Democrats back in favor?
Mention New Jersey and some will think of Atlantic City, and tour buses filled with elderly New Yorkers. They file out, pension payments in pocket, yearning to roll their walkers across casino carpet to spend hours in robotic bliss, pulling a slot-machine handle.
New Jersey also conjures up images of grimy neighborhoods, dirty beaches, and its share of tacky people. And don't forget the mobsters, high taxes and obnoxious, nasally accents.
While only the most negative and malcontent South Carolinian views us as backward, New Jersey has a reputation it has likely earned. And some politicians in South Carolina want to incorporate the personality of New Jersey into the Palmetto State.
In June, Democrat Party primary voters approved legalization of on-line gambling.
Columbia TV station WLTX (misleadingly) headlined the poll result as: S.C Voters Favor Legalized Gambling. It was Democrat voters only.
While 71 percent of Democrat voters approved of legalizing gambling, about 30 percent did not. And Republican voters, who traditionally are against more vice, outnumbered Democrat voters in the primary 290,000 voters to 114,000. So a referendum on voters' opinions is far from decided.
But the chance our people don't want more gambling has not stopped politicians.
Needing something besides Democrat Party baggage to run on, Democrat Rep. Todd Rutherford said he will introduce legislation to bring casinos to the Myrtle Beach area.
The push from Democrats to offer more vice, in a vice-filled world, comes as the Atlantic City gambling syndicate is crumbling. New Jersey's gaming cathedrals are going out of business.
The Garden State sold its soul, and it's now left broke and broken, with a hole.
How much more can the Grand Strand take?
Myrtle Beach already offers gambling on ocean-liner junkets, just up the road out of Little River.
Myrtle Beach is also home to a raucous Bike Week. The out-of-control recklessness of the event, with murders in the streets, tarnishes Myrtle Beach and our state.
While the Grand Strand is a Cash Cow for South Carolina's $17 Billion tourist industry, it brings its share of shame.
The once-pristine jewel by sea has become a din for fugitives; a bastion of prostitution; and a parade of tattoo parlors and strip clubs. Even tainted, it draws millions of visitors annually. But for how long?
Right now, with an economy that has been limping since 2008, Myrtle Beach is appealing because of cost.
But each time a new shopfront for sleaze is OKed, instead of satisfying the lust for decadence, it just whets the appetite for more. When the country turns around, and it will, can MB compete?
While the lure for gambling-easy money is strong, we've sold enough of our soul. We need to tell the Democrats “No” on more vice. You have done enough damage already.
If we don't, just look toward New Jersey. Is that a future. you want?
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