Here we go again!

In my misspent youth, I watched Abbott and Costello comedies on television often enough to memorize some of their routines. It wasn’t that difficult. If a comedic bit worked, Bud and Lou were certain to repeat it over and over again. Some of their most celebrated sketches were performed in the movies as well as on radio and television. Constant repetition of familiar routines may have served to hasten the end of their careers as headlining entertainers during the Fifties.

Listening to our politicians engage in brinksmanship and double talk, makes me pine for a straight man like Bud Abbott. He could at least put over some of the nonsense more skillfully than our elected officials.

Higher taxes are being threatened by City Hall and the County Board, but how much of it is genuine and how much of it is part of a bait and switch scheme? Will the demands for new taxes be abandoned entirely or reduced dramatically if Chicago is granted its own municipal casino license? Is all of the tax talk credible or is it simply a diversionary tactic?

Can you see Abbott moving the cups rapidly around the table top while Costello is asked to place his bet and to guess which cup the lemon is concealed under? Of course, this routine is not simply a nifty feat of prestidigitation. By the end of the sketch, we learn that the swindler removed the hidden lemon from the table and the sucker stood to lose the bet regardless of how he wagered. The roly-poly comic, Lou Costello, is not much different than the average taxpayer in this regard.

Are Chicagoans ready to accept the empty promise that the extension of legalized gambling will act as an absolute panacea for all of the city’s budgetary woes? Despite decades of corruption, maladministration and rampant mismanagement, the elected officials and the appointed bureaucrats promise to set matters right if given this one last opportunity. Haven’t we all been done this same road repeatedly?

Gambling has had a long history in Chicago and in Illinois. At times, flourishing gambling parlors operated within walking distance of City Hall. During the progressive era repeated efforts were made to alternately prohibit and regulate gaming. Horse racing was the most notable target of such legislation. Depending upon the election returns, horse racing was either tolerated or subject to being banned outright. Reformers actually succeeded in shutting horse racing down completely for quite a few years. Subsequently, a later session of the General Assembly legalized horse races again, but the tracks never returned to the corporate city limits of Chicago. Horse players had to travel to the suburbs to place legal wagers. Illegal handbooks thrived in the city as every barbershop and tavern seemed to accept bets.

Mayor William Hale Thompson proposed a city sponsored lottery to promote municipal prosperity during the early years of the Great Depression. This plan never gained widespread acceptance. A few years later, Mayor Edward J. Kelly pressed for the legislature to grant Chicago the authority to license horse racing handbooks in a manner similar to the issuance of tavern licenses. The profits from the licensing revenue fees were to be applied equally to help pay for the Chicago Public Schools and the city’s operating expenses. The proposed legislation was debated, amended to limit its scope to Chicago, and ultimately passed in Springfield.

Governor Henry Horner vetoed the legislation, which would have authorized 2,500 handbooks for Chicago while prohibiting off track betting elsewhere in the state, and his veto initiated several years of acrimonious political warfare in the Illinois Democratic Party between those loyal to the governor and those supportive of the mayor. It would be several more decades before off track betting was legalized in Illinois and state licensed river boat casinos were authorized.

Legalization was not necessarily a handicap to the continuous spread of gambling. Illicit suburban gambling casinos operated more or less openly during the interim. One Cook county sheriff, Thomas O’Brien, was so derelict in terms of raiding gambling dens that the newspapers nicknamed him “Blind Tom” for his repeated refusal to see what was occurring in front of him. Many country clubs had on premises gambling available for their members and their guests. Slot machines were ubiquitous throughout Cook County.

During the Seventies, the creation of the Illinois State Lottery was trumpeted as a means to aid public schools throughout the state. Proceeds from lottery ticket sales were to be placed into the common school fund. Regrettably, the bait and switch technique was utilized once again: the General Assembly simply reduced its own appropriations for public education to offset the new monies generated by the lottery. School funding in Illinois remains a bitterly contested issue to the present day. One member of the General Assembly made a helpful suggestion that former numbers runners might be employed by the lottery in light of their years of experience in the field. The legislator in question was Harold Washington, the future mayor of Chicago.

Can a casino perform economic miracles for Chicago? I have my doubts. Las Vegas is a special case as far as travel destinations go. Casinos operating in Atlantic City, Detroit, and other cities seem to offer more apt comparisons. Apart from a select few insiders and investors, the casinos in these locations have not made an appreciable difference to the economic health and well being of the communities in which they are based. While I am not intolerant of all forms of gambling, the prospect of the Gray Wolves at City Hall running the entire operation gives me pause. I also have my doubts about the long term consequences of relying upon gambling revenues as a means of financing governmental operations. Moreover, how many of the losing wagers will be placed by hard pressed locals rather than wealthy tourists?

Step right up! You put down your money and you take your chances. There’s a sucker born every minute.
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Daniel J. Kelley is a regular columnist for the Chicago Daily Observer