Libertarian Party of RI Issues Statement on Twin River - IGT Negotiations
Friday, November 15, 2019
Libertarian Party of Rhode Island Chairperson Pat Ford has issued a statement on the agreement to hire gambling consultants to assist the 20-year no-big contract negotiations with IGT.
Read the Statement Below
What great news! Headlines announce Rhode Island’s Democratic House Speaker and the Rhode Island Republican Minority Leader are working together to fix a dilemma that raises ethics eyebrows and bitterly divides the state: the 20-year no-bid contract to IGT over the boisterous protests of Twin River Worldwide Holdings. The bi-partisan agreement of the RI legislators will be to hire consultants to offer expert analysis of the situation.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTImagine our disappointment, however, when the Libertarian Party of Rhode Island (LPRI) learned that the stated goal of hiring consultants to weigh in was actually to analyze how to divide the billions of dollars of monopolistic corporate welfare rather than how to eliminate the current system and introduce open market into the gambling economy in Rhode Island.
IGT and Twin River Worldwide Holdings – who already have been granted monopolies worth billions – are fighting over who can control an even wider swath of the Rhode Island economy.
Casino gaming, sports betting & lotteries – in their current structure - represent a real drain on the Rhode Island economy, as billions of dollars leave in the form of capital flight to out-of- state interests, or empty into the bottomless pit of State Government.
The real casualties are Rhode Island businesses and taxpayers. Increasingly, Rhode Island government seeks even greater control of our consumer economy in order to support an out of control $10 billion budget. Local businesses routinely find themselves in the unenviable position of not only having to compete with state monopolies for their share of discretionary consumer spending, but actually paying taxes in order to subsidize their direct competition.
The answer lies not in the specter of entitled billionaires feeding at the trough of taxpayer’s money, but in the creation of opportunities for all Rhode Islanders to participate in the gaming economy. Restaurants, concert venues, entertainment facilities, and entrepreneurs of all stripes must be given access to the same games of chance as IGT and Twin River. Marketing subsidies to IGT and Twin River must be eliminated.
Let the Free Market determine who will succeed in this arena. Allow all business an opportunity to complete on for gambling revenue on a level playing field. End the State of Rhode Island’s interference in consumer markets.
Related Slideshow: Twin River Presentation to House Finance Committee - October 3, 2019
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