"You can bet on this: Legal gambling in California will expand, carrying with it more of the traffic, environmental and law enforcement problems that flow from current casinos. Odds are, gambling revenue in the state will surpass Nevada's before long. Casinos will pop up in and around the big cities, not just on remote tribal reservations. Dice and roulette games may join the blackjack and poker tables and ringing rows of slot machines.

The question is not whether, but how much. The answer lies with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is in negotiations with casino-owning tribes. He should not give away limits on casinos for a few extra dollars to fill the current budget hole.

The largest gambling increases would occur under two competing initiatives now in the signature-gathering process for the November ballot, and Schwarzenegger should try to stop both of them."

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Editorial: He Holds the High Card (The Los Angeles Times 3/29)
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