One estimate says the Illinois smoking ban has cost the state $800 million in casino-tax revenues. So the sanctimonious numbskulls who keep going on and on about how they're doing everything for our good health are prposing a change:
SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois House voted Tuesday to lift a smoking ban in all of the state's casinos during a debate that pitted the health of bettors and casino workers against hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues.
The proposal, which passed 62-52 and now moves to the state Senate, represents a significant softening of the state's 2008 anti-smoking law that banned tobacco use in virtually all indoor public areas
Ladies and gentleman, if we're serious about our budget crisis in Illinois, let's be real. This is not about the smoking issue. This is about the money,” said Rep. Dan Burke, D-Chicago, the bill's House sponsor.
"About the money" -- well, duh, as Charlie Sheen would say. So go ahead and smoke till you die, already, but not before you drop lots of hard-earned money in a casino, and, by the way, drink lots of tax-laden booze while you're at it. Your sins must pay for the sins of the state, chief among them wanton profligacy.
And this just in: The sponsor of Indiana's smoking ban said he plans to drop it because some supporters wouldn't shut up about all the exemptions, but now he says he retracts that
