On September 10, 2015, in a unanimous decision Idaho’s Supreme Court ruled that Governor Otter’s veto of the legislatures bill SB 1011 to ban instant horse racing terminals is invalid. The ban on the gaming machines means that Les Bois Park can no longer use the terminals. There are 250 of these gambling machines installed at three Idaho locations which will have to be removed.
Irresponsible elected officials and most of all Governor Otter are Responsible for 80 Lost Jobs. Our courts often see things differently just as they did with the gay marriage ruling. Point is that they often times our courts have the last say. Personally I’m not a fan of gambling because it is the poor that are the most vulnerable gambling victims and can afford it least. There was a deadline for the veto that was not met, now there are 80 people out of work without any notice or time to prepare. Our Governor was elected for a third term to do a job and needs to be accountable when things go wrong. This is simply called taking care of business and being responsible.
How is this any different than the Wi-Fi scandal where the Governor knew for 10 months that government funds were cut off from the program and failed to mention that fact to Idaho’s citizens till after the primary election. Any elected official of the state has certain responsibilities to his or her constituents, like answering correspondence on important issues before voting on them. You will find that in many cases the longer a politician is in office the lower the chance of them answering inquires of their constituents.
This type of behavior has not been unusual for Otter’s administration. Just take a look at the campaign contributions from the Corporate Lobbyists and you can see who really controls what happens in Idaho’s government. It’s time to get rid of the professional politicians who owe their positions to the lobbyists who pay for their reelection campaigns.
You will have another opportunity in May of 2016 to find some true citizen legislators who owe no allegiance to the corporate lobbyists. If you really want term limits and our professional legislators will not vote themselves out of a job, then it is your job to boot them out every two years and find new citizen legislators who will actually work for the people and not the lobbyists.
