Frankfort —
“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.”
H.L. Mencken — Journalist, essayist, cynic and satirist
FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear and proponents of expanded gambling apparently don’t share H.L. Mencken’s cynicism when they say, “It’s time to let the people decide.”
At the press conference where Beshear and Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, unveiled their constitutional amendment on expanded gambling, Sen. R.J. Palmer, D-Winchester, said the issue is not “whether or not we need expanded gaming in Kentucky.” The real issue is “that we want the people of Kentucky to have their say.”
Of course what the people are being asked to decide is precisely what Palmer, Thayer and Beshear said isn’t the issue: Should we have expanded gambling?
But, every speaker that day made the same case: “Let the people decide.”
Some opponents, notably Senate President David Williams, argue plausibly that Kentucky is not a referendum state, and the constitution says voting for an amendment indicates the lawmaker approves of it and asks the people to ratify his or her decision.
For most people, however, that is a distinction without difference and letting the people decide is fundamental to their concept of democracy, even in a representative democracy.
That’s the only explanation for polling that says many who oppose gambling want a vote, even if the same polling says gambling will likely pass.
It is good marketing, and it gives political cover to conflicted or nervous lawmakers who can say they are “personally opposed to gambling” but voters want to decide the issue.
So it’s good strategy for proponents.
But isn’t there more than a little evidence that we, the people, don’t always make good decisions? Voters openly acknowledge they’ve made some bad decisions.
During my life, we’ve elected two presidents who faced impeachment and governors who left office in disgrace.
Congress has an approval rate around 10 percent. No one seems very satisfied with the government we’ve chosen. Some want term limits, presumably to protect us from ourselves and our own decisions. I guess it’s also why candidates often run against government while asking to be part of government.
None of this is to argue for or against gambling. My suspicion is that it won’t solve Kentucky’s problems and won’t make them much worse. (How could it?)
Expanded gambling in the form of casinos isn’t likely to turn the commonwealth into either Sodom and Gomorrah or the Silicon Valley.
But, I’m intrigued by the call to let the people decide rather than the representatives the same people have already decided to send to Frankfort — presumably to make such decisions.
Of course those are the lawmakers who decided to give us huge unfunded liabilities in state employee pension funds; persuaded us to approve annual sessions in order to reduce the number of special sessions and then regularly have been called into special session, sometimes because they couldn’t pass a budget.
They’re the same people who won’t confront controversial issues until the filing deadline passes and can’t craft a logical and constitutional plan to draw legislative districts.
In fact, several of those districts were deliberately drawn simply to contravene the people’s decisions about who they wanted to represent them in Frankfort.
Clearly people simply don’t trust those they’ve sent to Frankfort and prefer to make their own decisions.
But, I’m not yet as cynical as Mencken.
Instead I recall Winston Churchill’s quote: “Democracy is the worst form of government — except for all those others that have been tried.”
Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.
Viewpoints
Related Photos
-
Ronnie Ellis
Deciding to let the people decide
- Viewpoints
-
-
Coal problem worth tackling in Washington and Frankfort
Despite hysterical cries from radical environmentalists, neither Sen. Rand Paul’s Defense of Environment and Property Act nor Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Coal Jobs Protection Act would allow activities that bring harm to Kentucky’s wildlife or waterways for the sake of propping up the coal industry.
-
Peter Perlman — Life lessons from a lawyer’s lawyer
One of the great moments of my life was sitting next to legendary Louisville attorney Frank Haddad at a luncheon when he learned he had received the first Peter Perlman Outstanding Trial Lawyer award from the Kentucky Academy of Trial Lawyers.
As they started his bio, the surprised Frank started crying like a baby. A sudden heart attack took him less than a year later. Winning the Perlman award was the crowning achievement of his career. -
Credit score insanity
Frequently, people stop me and ask me personal finance questions.
The most common is how to improve their credit history score.
If you need to improve your credit score, it means you have lousy credit. Before fixing the score, people need to ask how their credit got so bad to begin with. -
‘Tells’ about who will blow their money
Kentucky Derby week is one where gambling takes a forefront in my life. Along with the non-stop activities in my home state, I am speaking at a dinner for the Society of Settlement Professionals in Las Vegas and a film crew from Italy is flying in from Rome to interview me for a documentary about lottery winners.
-
Viewpoints change when critics gain power
Scandals like those roiling Washington often look more or less nefarious as time and facts unfold. After all, what at first looked like a third-rate burglary turned into Watergate.
I doubt the scandals around Benghazi, the IRS and subpoenas of Associated Press phone records reach Watergate status — but we must await more information and time to know. -
Trouble’s last ride
When announcing my retirement, I made reference to letting “Trouble” having one last ride.
-
Going from school to work requires preparation, faith
(Editor’s Note: After graduating from EKU on Saturday, Seth Littrell came to work Monday at the Richmond Register as a reporter/photographer.)
This past Saturday weekend I graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with my bachelor’s in journalism.
It was the single goal I had been working toward for the past four years, and as I walked across that stage I realized I was the first person in my family to do so. -
Report on former EKU Center for the Arts director called 'biased, unfair'
I am writing in response to the Richmond Register’s May 3, 2013, article concerning the former Executive Director of the EKU Center for the Arts. The article I reference appeared on the front page of your newspaper with the headline “Sexual harassment, other offenses alleged in Hoskin’s records in 740 pages of documents.”
-
Recognizing those who provide care
How fitting it is that the beginning of National Nursing Home Week is Mother’s Day, May 12.
-
That’s just how it is: Part four
I mentioned in the first column in this series that I still get razzed for wearing Marshall University Green.
Former EKU President Joanne Glasser always teased me about it. She told me I looked much better in maroon, and I always reminded her I bleed green. I don’t think she ever really cared. - More Viewpoints Headlines
-
Huge Tornado Kills Dozens Near Oklahoma City
Raw: Rescuers Pull Tornado Survivors to Safety
Oklahoma Gov: 'Hearts Are Broken' After Tornado
Raw: Walking in a Flattened Okla. Neighborhood
Raw: Rescue Workers Search Oklahoma School
Raw: Witness Describes Scene After Okla. Tornado
Raw: Aftermath of Massive Tornado in Oklahoma
Raw: House Burns After Massive Oklahoma Tornado
Raw: Tornado on the Ground in Oklahoma
Split-second Choice Ended With NY Student Dead
White House Backs 'Shield Law' for Media
Wave of Attacks Kills Scores in Iraq
Pug Life on Display at Wisconsin Festival
Company Promises to Make All Snail Mail Digital
Analyst: Tumblr Fills Void in Yahoo's Offerings
Commuters Face Delays After Conn. Train Accident
Raw: Swarm of Tornadoes Slams Plains
Raw: Fierce Bombing in Qusair, Syria
RAW: TV Staff Take Cover From Tornado
Raw: Accused US Spy Reportedly Leaves Russia
