Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschDecember 4, 2013

In 333 BC, Alexander of Macedonia, on his march through Anatolia, reached Gordium. There he was shown the chariot of the ancient founder of the city, Gordius, with its yoke lashed to the pole by an intricate knot. According to tradition, this knot was to be untied only by the future conqueror of Asia. According to legend, Alexander sliced through the […]

Bob SparksNovember 17, 2013

In 2014, Florida’s legislators will make a significant policy decision when they decide whether to give the green light for an expansion of gambling. Both sides of the issue are well armed. Supporters of expanded gambling have lobbyists and public relations people. Those against more casinos have plenty of advocates, including a number of legislators. […]

Guest AuthorNovember 13, 2013

The Florida Legislature is looking at rewriting our laws regulating gambling. The Florida Senate Gaming Committee is holding hearings around the state gathering public input. Some feel that the lawmakers will be enticed to open the door for Las Vegas-style casinos to come into the state. For decades, Florida had only three legal forms of […]

Guest AuthorNovember 6, 2013

How many examples can you think of where Florida law is unnecessarily complex? Where loopholes — intended or not — undermine a goal? Where a fix ends up worse than the problem? For instance, take casinos. It took years of patchwork lawmaking to create the identity confusion Florida has today with gaming regulations. You can […]

Peter SchorschOctober 29, 2013

By coincidence, the two most recommended articles on the New York Times website as of Sunday afternoon were a pair of very different stories about the seemingly never-ending effort to expand gaming in Florida. The first was about the trial of Anthony Ferrari, a former owner of a Miami Beach security company who had ties to the Gambino crime family […]

Guest AuthorOctober 21, 2013

Gambling interests say they will create thousands of jobs in Florida if we legalize Vegas-style casinos. When Bugsy Siegel essentially created Las Vegas by building casinos in a barren desert in Nevada, his enterprise did create jobs – because virtually nothing existed before the casinos. The problem is that when casinos are introduced into an […]

Tag: Gambling
Uloma Ekpete Kama. Image via campaign site.

Peter Schorsch: Kudos to Weatherford for trying to cut gaming knot

Bob Sparks: A generation later, Floridians more open to gaming

Rick Outzen: I hear a singing pig if legislators pass new gambling laws

Karen Cyphers: Sensible pot laws are needed, but amendment is flawed

Peter Schorsch: Predicting winner of debate over expanded gambling still a coin-flip

Carol Dover: Destination resorts will cannibalize industry