Newspaper: PA gambling laws a 'laughingstock'

The usually Ed Rendell-friendly Philadelphia Inquirer has turned on the governor with a scathing review of the state's awful gambling laws initiated by Rendell.

From the editorial in today's Inquirer:

For those keeping score at home, Pennsylvania now has two ex-cons who have been given coveted licenses to run slots parlors.

One of the felons has since been accused of mob ties. Another was convicted of dealing drugs. Can Bugsy Siegel be far behind?

Unfortunately, Gov. Rendell is too busy counting the tax dollars rolling in from slots to realize that the state's gambling venture is quickly becoming a laughingstock.

The Inquirer says the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's response is to act like the three wise monkeys - See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil.

"It shouldn't be too much to ask that operators of a business known for attracting unsavory characters have a clean record," the newspaper says.

There are efforts by Republican state lawmakers, including Senate Majority Whip Jane Orie (R-Allegheny) and Sen. John Rafferty (R-Chester), to close many of the loopholes in the original law. Those changes can't come soon enough and neither can the end of Rendell's failed tenure as governor.

Read the full editorial at the newspaper's Web site.