Sioux City's Embarassment: Chris Rants
Thanks to the ever-vigilant Drew Miller, we have the following report on everyone's favorite lobbyist lapdog, Chris Rants:
It's not just the tobacco industry that is pulling Rants' strings; his 527 has also gotten money from gambling interests. While I'm no supporter of Touchplay, it's hard not to agree with one supporter who wrote into the Register to point out some curious facts:
A March 4 story regarding the Iowa Lottery’s TouchPlay program (“TouchPlay Machines Make $1,654 Per Year, Group Says”) quoted House Speaker Christopher Rants saying: “It’s interesting that nearly $20 million of this (revenue) is going out to Nevada.”Rants was referring to information, provided to the media and Legislature by the lottery and industry, that mentioned four manufacturers of TouchPlay machines would receive approximately $18 million during fiscal year 2006. Rants apparently assumed all manufacturers of TouchPlay machines are from Nevada. In fact, only one TouchPlay manufacturer is located there.
Our company, Oasis Gaming, a division of International Gamco, Inc., is a manufacturer of TouchPlay machines. We are located in Omaha, Neb. One-third of our approximately 200 employees live in Iowa. Not all of the approximately 15 percent of net revenue the manufacturers receive from TouchPlay goes to Nevada as Rants wants everyone to believe. A portion of it goes to hard-working Iowa citizens that we are very proud to employ.
I find it amusing that Rants and others haven’t mentioned that over 80 percent of the 16,303 slot machines in Iowa’s casinos are manufactured in Nevada and most of the casinos are run by large Nevada corporations.
Most of the revenue from Iowa casinos goes to Nevada companies while 90 percent of the revenue generated by TouchPlay stays in Iowa.
— Scott Henneman, vice president and general manager, Oasis Gaming division, International Gamco, Omaha, Neb.
Of course, knowing that he's under the gun for his lobbyist ties, Rants is sure to be careful about the appearance of impropriety, right?
2 Comments:
The arguments made against TouchPlay machines are totally inconsistent with how we treat other forms of entertainment. If we're to ban TouchPlay, then we are to ban other forms of entertainment.
I saw that there is someone running against Rants. Any news on him? I have talked to some teachers here in central Iowa that want to go to Sioux City and campaign against Rants.
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