Casino layoffs blamed on Ill. smoking ban

St. Louis Post Dispatch ^ | 02/08/2008 | AP

[demsux]

But...But....But....the nanny staters say that business will INCREASE with smoking bans.

[demsux]

ping

[mtbopfuyn]

So, they layed off a piddly little 3% of their employees since Jan. 1. Excuse me, but it’s wintertime and tourism tends to go down in January and Feburary. Apples and oranges, apples and oranges.

[demsux]

Ownership seems to think otherwise, but I’m sure an expert like you is right.

[Graybeard58]

I live in Illinois but don’t do the casino scene anyway but so far this year I haven’t been out to eat in a place where I have to sit down and order. Fast food and take out has been my limit and very little of that. I travel to Missouri frequently though and enjoy their restaurants.

[rockabyebaby]

Oh come on, we all know damn right well this is Bush’s fault!

[vetvetdoug]

Illinois has some really ridiculous gun laws. Maybe its the lack of weapons and security that is keeping the suckers away...

[LetsRok]

Good. I hope the smelly smokers quit going to the casinos so that I can go. I live about an hour from the casino in Charles Town, WV. I went once and could not stay longer than 15 minutes due to the smell of cigarette smoke.

[coloradan]

There’s nothing like using the government’s raw power to enact coercive measures that are nice and convenient for you, nevermind how much they restrict the liberties of others.

[Graybeard58]

I live about an hour from the casino in Charles Town, WV. I went once and could not stay longer than 15 minutes due to the smell of cigarette smoke.

How far are you from an Illinois casino, which is what this article is about?

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Hope you've got the flame-resistant robe on there pardner. This has the makins to be a pro-smoke thread.

An alternate theory could be the citizens are tapped out from Christmas purchases, in debt and the cost of gas has altered many family's ways they spend their money. Every restaurant I've been in in the past month has been low attended.

It's not the smokes. It's the price of gasoline and the effects on the budget.

[AD from SpringBay]

Quick - let’s create a special exception for those industries that fund the bloated IL. gub’mint. We’ll call it the, “Smoking and gambling are good so long as the government gets their cut - Act”.

[live+let_live]

Small ‘f’ fascism is very popular.

[gracesdad]

Fewer people going to the casinos??? That’s just terrible for society.

[Ditto]

So, they layed off a piddly little 3% of their employees since Jan. 1. Excuse me, but it’s wintertime and tourism tends to go down in January and Feburary. Apples and oranges, apples and oranges.

Have they had that winter time drop in past years? And most of these type Casinos depend entirely on locals, not tourists. It ain't Vegas baby. ;~))

[mtbopfuyn]

I’m sure an expert like you is right.

I'm always right.

[weegee]

The nannystate will have to do what is right and prohibit casinos. It’s for your own good.

[MEGoody]

I hope the smelly smokers quit going to the casinos so that I can go.

If you really HAVE to gamble, you can do so on line. But I always thought it was a CONSERVATIVE principle that government should keep its hands off private business.

[alarm rider]

Seeing as how you are so special, I hope you don’t enjoy the occasional Big Mac or anything, because sooner or later they are coming for you and your Big Mac.

See how these things work?

[weegee]

The legalization and regulation of vice by government isn’t to limit the public’s exposure/consumption; it is to make sure that the gub’mint gets their cut of the racket and that there is power/money in granting licenses.