Learn and Earn....the ploy continues....

I've written about Learn and Earn a few times here and here as well as recently on Glass City Jungle. My main complaint or fear has been that people will not know this is about gambling. That is happening, but don't take my word for it, hear it directly from people on a local message board called Toledo Talk where several people so far have reported being approached by those hired by Fieldworks to collect signatures:

Paddington in part states:

I was going to the library the other day, and a middle aged white lady and a tall black kid were outside with clipboards. I tried to avoid making eye contact with them, but they came up to me and asked if I was a registered voter. I said yes. Then they asked, "Do you think gambling dollars ought to be used to create scholarship money to send Ohio's youth to college?"

Of course I said no, but the vast majority of people walking by were enthusiastically signing their petition.

Basically the way it's being presented, it seems as if gambling is already legal in Ohio, and these helpful samaritans are out there to heroically take some of that gambling money and give it to Ohio's youth!

Toledolaw05:

When I signed it they never said a word about gambling. I guess I should have asked a question before scribbling my name

Timault:

Yeah I got hit up for the same petition at the OWE festival last weekend for a "scholarship petition"

How slimy... then again I signed the petition thinking that I'd research it later if it made it to the ballot... and it'll get a big NO vote from me.

I am as I have written many times not an anti-gambling person, I am however anti-deception when it comes to this or any petition to change the Ohio Constitution. Ironically not long ago on the floor of the Ohio Senate concerning the TEL Amendment it was stated that people don't just sign these petitions without taking a serious look at what they are about. At the time when I heard that I knew it was bunk, all we can hope for is that people who are so willing to sign a petition to get something on the ballot will pay more attention if this or any petition gets enough signatures. That even with the way the advertising is currently being done by Learn and Earn that when it comes to actually voting for or against something that voters will have more information.

I also strongly believe the laws concerning gathering these petitions should be looked at, it's obvious the chances of deception are allowed to take root when something that is about making slot machine gambling legal at seven race tracks and a few possible other locations is allowed to be called "Learn and Earn" in the first place. It should be the responsibility of the Ohio government to make sure that what they approve is openly presented to Ohio voters. While I have some major issues with the way the Learn and Earn campaign is being done, I also realize that our current government approved this constitutional amendment, the name and the petition.

If you are as disgusted with this as I am, I would suggest not only telling people about what Learn and Earn really is but also making a phone call to the Attorney General's office.

Contact information

Contact - Jim Petro
Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro
State Office Tower
30 E. Broad Street, 17th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-3428
(614) 466-4320