Strickland & Dolan Gamble with the Keno Facts

It looks like the PD made a mistake and wrote a good opinion piece on Rev. Ted's & the Lotto's deceitful little ways...

PD Opinion --

Gov. Ted Strickland's administration is proving thrifty -- with facts.

At issue is Controlling Board approval May 5 of an $18 million contract given GTech Holdings, the Ohio Lottery's longtime lead contractor, for Keno equipment. Some Republicans argued that Ohio law didn't allow the lottery to expand via Keno. The Controlling Board, 4-3 Republican, is checkpoint for unbid contracts.

The board's Republicans split, so it voted 5-2 to give GTech the contract. But as the Associated Press has revealed, what the board didn't know May 5, because Lottery Director Michael A. Dolan didn't announce it until May 12, was that the lottery was replacing GTech as lead lottery contractor with a rival, Intralot. That fact might have helped foes stall Keno by raising the specter of incompatible equipment, said Rep. Jay Hottinger, a Republican member of the Controlling Board.

According to a Strickland spokesman, Dolan didn't hoodwink the Controlling Board because "the question was not asked" and because, as of May 5, Intralot's contract was not a done deal. And a lottery spokeswoman has said that "virtually all the equipment will be reusable."

Republican Sen. John Carey, a Controlling Board member who voted for the Keno contract, stopped short of saying he felt deceived.

But taxpayers should ask: What's wrong with frankness? If Strickland's aides act this way when the Controlling Board is 4-3 GOP, what timed-release revelations will Ohioans see after Jan. 1, when Democrats run Ohio's House, and the board will be 4-3 Democrat?

Didn't hoodwink? OK he convienently skirted around the issue. he purposely misrepresented the facts. Facts that would have obviously caused other Controlling Board members to possibly change their vote. Knowing they were in negotiations with Intralot and NOT informing the board shows a complete breach of public trust and is lacking in any sense of duty on Dolan's part.

What they did is no differant than a parent asking their kid if they snort coke and the kid answers no. Since he only smokes crack - technically he is not lying.