Is legalized gambling becoming unsinkable?

摘要

'We've got their backs against the wall," boasts the Rev. Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. Seven of eight state referendums to expand gambling, he points out, were defeated last fall. With new markets limited, casino stocks have plunged 26 percent in the last year. But perhaps most satisfying to Grey is the imminent closing of the Silver Eagle riv-erboat casino near his hometown parish in rural Jo Daviess County, Ill. This was the casino that had inspired Grey in 1992 to begin an antigambling crusade that eventually made him the casinos' foremost national opponent. Thanks in part to Grey's efforts, the state declined to renew the Silver Eagle's license and the boat will close at the end of the month.