I've got mixed feelings about this. Putting a casino on I-75 would be a sure-fire way to make money off mathematically challenged East Tennesseans. And my proud Corbin blood says let's put it in Corbin, or at least Whitley County, just as long as London doesn't get it.
But from what I understand, casinos don't really do much to help an area's tourism. When people go to a casino, they stay at that facility until it's time to go home. They eat, sleep and recreate without spending a dime at any nearby business. And if they're coming from the Knoxville area, they probably won't even need to get gas here. So every penny they spend will be inside the casino's walls. That's fine for the casino. But it doesn't really help the rest of us.
So by 2011, the casinos are open and the state is starting to see some revenues from the casino operators, so Governor Beshear is re-elected in a landslide. Meanwhile in Tennessee, some astute politician sees the impact that Kentucky's casinos has had on the Knoxville and Nashville areas, so he proposes that Tennessee wakes up and allows its own casinos. So he gets elected governor of Tennessee, and Tennessee starts filling its state up with casinos. As Tennessee's casinos open, its people realize that there's no reason to come to Kentucky's casinos any longer, so Tennessee's new casinos flourish while Kentucky's old casinos dry up. But Kentucky was depending on those casino revenues to meet its budget, so now Governor Beshear isn't looking like a genius any longer. By this time, our local casino is fighting to stay open. So it starts a desperation-driven marketing campaign to try to get Southeastern Kentucky customers to make up for its lost Tennessee customers, so a new group of gamblers is created. Our local casino is happy once again. But this new group of gamblers doesn't last very long. Those who have more money to spend are lured down to Tennessee's fancy new casinos. But those who have less money are stuck in the local casino, at least until their money all runs out.
So our new casino closes. There's a new group of Kentucky gamblers who are spending a lot of money in Tennessee, but more sadly there's another new group of Kentucky gamblers who have lost everything including their homes and even their families.
