No way Laredo would stake it's economic future on gambling.....wanna bet?

At tonight's City of Laredo council meeting, district I councilman Mike Garza took the lead in pushing for legalizing gambling in Laredo. The council voted yes to pursuing not one but two forms of gambling ; horse race betting and slot machines would both be allowed under one roof. Think of it as a mini-mall for gamblers. What better way to spend the family's money than to blow it at the race track.

Earlier, I had read an article in the Laredo Sun on the same story. It seems that the only thing our city council is concerned about these days (and always) is making easy money. Why build up our schools and educate our workforce as a means to attracting new businesses when we can bring in an addictive vice like gambling? Here's a little bit of what appeared in the Laredo Sun:

A study of the Win for Texas promoters said that if approved the slot machines in places where races are held , the state would have an impact of $ 8.5 billion in the economy of Texas . It is also estimated that statewide it will create over 77 thousand jobs , 16 thousand of them in South Texas as it will benefit the development of some 40 different industries.

Who can argue with numbers like that? Sixteen thousands jobs created and over 40 different industries developed. I wonder how many of those industries will be necessary to deal with the gambling addiction, broken homes and bankrupt Laredoans that will be strewn in the wake of such a grand idea.