Lottery For Baseball? Let’s Use Some Imagination

For all their fiscally conservative chatter, most Eastern Washington lawmakers still went to bat for a new baseball stadium in Seattle. Like good team players they helped pass a financing package in which taxpayers statewide could underwrite the extortion the Seattle Mariners are demanding of King County.

King County would do the same for us, right?

The legislators’ rationale of choice seems to be that, hey, we’re just doing for the Mariners what we’d do to keep any business, and its jobs, in the state. Actually, most businesses I’ve heard from say the best way for the Legislature to help them is to do less instead of more.

So here’s the question: Now that the Legislature has given Kingdome supporters a lottery game of their own, as part of the package, why not carve up the rest of the gambling pie for other stakeholders in state government?

How about a lottery just for education? (Contrary to myth, revenue from the lottery we already have was never designated for public school funding.) Or welfare? Or highway construction?

Other suggestions? Operators (well, tape recorders) are standing by to take your call, or fax, or letter, or e-mail.

Rising to debate

A handful of 1996 presidential hopefuls will be in Spokane Sunday for a nationally telecast debate, part of a presidential preference project called CityVote. None of the participants in all probability will be either major party’s nominee next year.

This says volumes about the obstacles facing any attempt at campaign finance reform - every discussion of which gets around, sooner or later, to how all candidates can get their messages out without being beholden to big-bucks special-interest groups. Note who’s not coming on Sunday: the well-heeled front-runners with tight connections to big-bucks specialinterest groups.

Lack of participation canceled a CityVote debate in St. Paul. And there have been few takers in Spokane. Washington state Democrats even sued in a futile attempt to keep President Clinton’s name off the straw poll that will be on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.

What do voters think of these snubs?

, DataTimes MEMO: “Bagpipes” appears Tuesdays and Thursdays. To respond, call Cityline at 458-8800, category 9881, from a Touch-Tone phone; or send a fax to 459-5098 or e-mail to dougf@spokesman.com. You also can leave Doug Floyd a message at 459-5577, extension 5466.