Casinos are “Essential” in Pennsylvania

In what can only be seen as purely politics, the government of Pennsylvania was unable to pass a budget and so laid off all public servants who were not considered essential. Who would have thought that the casino regulators would have been considered essential, right on up there with law officers and firefighters?

PA Governor Ed Rendell laid off people on unpaid furlough, but ensured that the government would still be getting money by allowing the casinos to stay open. They would rather pay people to make sure that the slot machines keep running than the other 20,000 employees that they chose to layoff. The state legislature has been unable to reach a decision on the budget with Rendell, so in response he laid people off.

How are these people supposed to pay their bills or feed their families? Not Rendell’s problem, he has got his slot machine revenue coming in and that is all that matters. Many state employees are angered that they were laid off and casinos are still allowed to operate. They say that once again the government has put the almighty dollar ahead of people, and they are tired of it.

They say that the fact that you can still get a lottery ticket or play the slot machines, but you can’t get your driver’s license or visit a state monument is simply outrageous and they want to come back to work. They say that if the government can afford to keep them in business, then they can afford to keep all of them in their jobs. They say that they are being sacrificed so that Rendell can win, but he wins anyway because his slot machines have not been shut down.

 

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