[YCTHouston]

"Texas is turning into Louisiana."

Groan-inspiring.

If Perry had his way, we'd have Louisiana casinos too.

[af_vet_rr]

If Perry had his way, we'd have Louisiana casinos too.

Oh, don't you worry about that, Perry wants casinos and they are coming. Plenty of people connected to him are constantly bringing up the fact that Texans are flocking to Oklahoma and Louisiana to visit their casinos. Those people are whispering in Perry's ear about all of that "lost money" that should stay in Texas.

Perry only backed off on the casinos/etc., when the Baptists, etc., stirred up a ruckus. Now that he's done with elections, and now that it's clear he won't be a VP or Presidential contender, he's going to be working on his post-Governor lifestyle, and that includes lining the pockets of his friends.

I predict we'll have something major concerning casinos by the end of 2007, or early 2008 before the midterm campaigns start (he'll at least try to make sure that the issue will die down by the time midterms roll around).

[af_vet_rr]

If Perry had his way, we'd have Louisiana casinos too.

I accidentally left this out of my reply to you - I think the move to get the ball rolling on selling the state lottery is the first step towards casinos. By moving the lottery to a private entity, Perry sets the stage for privately-owned legalized gambling to increase dramatically in Texas.