In praise of official's gambling stance

I appreciate your willingness to publish this letter. Your doing so gives me an opportunity to publicly thank a member of the Illinois General Assembly for demonstrated dedication to the quality of the life we share here in Illinois and for bravery in the face of severe and unrelenting pressure.

State Sen. Susan Garrett is that elected official, and the threatened massive expansion of gambling is the issue. The bill in question is SB 737. A very fine summary of the bill's provisions has been provided by the group Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems in Springfield. Their study of the proposal is too lengthy for this letter, but suffice it to say it would bring Illinois 11 new casinos. It's absolutely frightening and it won't help our state's financial situation at all. We cannot gamble ourselves wealthy! If that were possible, the state of Illinois wouldn't be able to count the money with all the gambling we have here right now.

Sen. Garrett decided to survey her constituents. The survey confirmed overwhelming citizen opposition to SB 737. Turning aside unbelievable pressure, Sen. Garrett has committed her intention to oppose SB 737 and the expansion of gambling generally.

I think we all admire those who are willing to carefully study issues and then act in a way which answers the question of “what is right” as opposed to the usual “who is right?” Thank You, Sen. Garrett. Keep up the good work.

James B. Blue

Des Plaines