Repub NJ Governor Wants STATE GOV'T To Take Over Atlantic City Casinos

[Beetwasher]

Silly me, I thought Repubs hated big government.

N.J. Gov. Christie wagers on Democratic support for sweeping gaming industry changes

TRENTON — To get what he wants in Atlantic City, Gov. Chris Christie is making a calculated political bet.

Many of his team’s recommendations on reviving the seaside casino capital will have to clear the Democrat-controlled state Legislature, a minefield of competing regional interests long divided over the gaming industry’s future. But the most important player in the mix is Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), the head of a powerful bloc of South Jersey lawmakers who have fiercely protected their turf, squashing any number of past plans to expand gambling beyond Atlantic City.
Share "With Steve Sweeney as the Senate president, and secondly with the number of legislators on both sides of the aisle from South Jersey, we have the numbers to prevent that from happening," said Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May).

That could’ve been a death blow to any bold vision of reshaping the New Jersey gaming scene. But the Republican governor and his commission saw an opportunity, figuring that if he protected Atlantic City’s casino monopoly, a grateful Sweeney would give the governor the benefit of the doubt on a state takeover

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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/gov_christie_makes_calculated.html

[SunnySong]

1. Honestly they have to do something... of course this is probably the wrong thing

but Atlantic City is not sustainable due to its unfortunate location and tons of competition.

[Beetwasher]

2. I Just Love The Hypocrisy Though

n/t