David Blankenhorn weighs in with his second op-ed in two days on casino gambling.
Blankenhorn’s piece in the New York Daily News details how Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s support of casinos differs from his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo. (Disclosure: Blankenhorn heads the Institute for American Values, which funds this blog.)
In 1994, Mario Cuomo said bringing casinos into a state “doesn’t generate wealth, it just redistributes it.” He warned that, if the Legislature proposed a constitutional amendment to bring casinos to the state, he might “fight the proposal in public debate.”
In his book, “The New York Idea,” Mario Cuomo cited civic, religious, personal and economic reasons for his opposition to casinos. “There is a respectable body of economic thought that holds that casino gambling is actually economically regressive to a state and a community,” he wrote.
The elder Cuomo is right of course. Should make for some interesting dinner conversation at the Cuomo house. Left unsaid of course: Considering that Mario Cuomo was considered one of the more thoughtful elected officials, where does that leave the son?