Letter Of The Day

I have a suggestion to offer Gov. Tom Vilsack's task force studying the issue of TouchPlay machines in Iowa. Create a 2,000-foot buffer zone between TouchPlay machines and any school or day-care center. This out-of-sight, out-of-mind law-making would effectively have the same impact on the gambling problem in Iowa as it has had in dealing with the sex-offender problem: none.

We can stuff all the sex offenders and TouchPlay machines together and just pretend that they are not there. I predict that our lawmakers will draft more feel-good legislation, like roping off the machines and using surveillance cameras, which all looks good, while never dealing with the real issue of gambling in Iowa.

—Mike Arndt, Norwalk.

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