Tales of Teh St00pid

Nebraska Lawmaker Proposes War With Iowa

A Nebraska lawmaker is so fed up with constituents crossing the state border to gamble that she proposed going to war with neighboring Iowa.

"I've been cautioned that the members of the Iowa Legislature might not take it kindly,' said Sen. Pam Brown of Omaha.

Brown's proposed amendment read: "The sovereign state of Nebraska declares a state of hostility with the sovereign state of Iowa until such a time as the state of Iowa ceases the unjust and relentless appropriation of the resources of the citizens of Nebraska."

Is Iowa "appropriating" the resources of Nebraskan citizens? If true, it would mean that Iowa's government is taking money from Nebraskans without their consent, i.e., stealing it from them.

And, according to Ms. Brown, the State of Iowa is doing this "relentlessly." It certainly sounds like she thinks Iowa is engaging in criminal enterprise.

Brown offered the amendment to a proposed constitutional amendment that would ask votes to approve casino gambling in Nebraska.

[...]

Supporters of the casino measure have complained that Nebraskans spend an estimated $250 million a year at casinos in Council Bluff, Iowa, just across the border from Omaha.

So here is the reality. Nebraskans want to gamble, but the State of Nebraska won't let them. However, a quick drive over the border to Iowa allows them to do just that. These people are freely choosing to spend their money elsewhere. Apparently, this counts as state-sponsored resource pilfering on behalf of Iowa. I shouldn't have to explain why this is st00pid.

She said she offered the tongue-in-cheek proposal to get her colleagues focused on the seriousness of the issue.

[...]

Brown later withdrew the amendment.

Cute. Just like Stephen Joseph's oreo lawsuit, this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I consider these kinds of public awareness stunts to be abuses of office, wasteful of taxpayer money and legislative time that could be better spent elsewhere...like deregulating gambling and letting people spend their money in risky ways.

Posted by Drizzten at May 29, 2003 07:50 PM