Governor Jack Markell Delivers a Double Dose of Reality to Casino Owners

I love it when politicians introduce reality into public discourse. During his address to the state legislature, Gov. Jack Markell did precisely that:

Let me be clear: the exclusive franchise for video lottery and sports lottery belongs to the taxpayers of this state, not the casino owners. The owners are the taxpayers' partners in this venture and they need to act like partners.

That's right. The franchise belongs to the taxpayers and Markell has asked the legislature to up the state's share from video-lottery by 8%. That's hardly onerous and the casino owners have no rights to assert in the matter. That was Gov. Markell's first dose of reality.

Apparently, the casino owners issued their own report about Gov. Markell's proposal and their own report didn't support their predictions of pestilence if they anted up an extra 8%:

Looking at the report the casino owners themselves commissioned, the question is not whether they will lose money under this proposal, but rather how much more revenue will they reap.

Hear that? They will still make a profit if Markell's proposal is adopted. In other words, the casino owners are just being greedy. That's what I call a double dose of reality.