A Valentine’s Day trip to Owensboro for a town meeting on expanded gambling — Speedway gasoline: $16.50, dinner at Briarpatch: $15.95, the million-dollar quote from a local, would-be casino-magnate: Priceless.

"I want a casino in Owensboro. . ." he told the local paper. "(State Representative) Brian Crall is a thorn in our side. . . He will have someone run against him next time, and he will lose. I don’t care if it costs me $1 million."

As I read this foolishness on the day I spoke at Owensboro’s rally against expanded gambling, I could hear with melodic clarity the refrain from yet another commercial: "I see your true colors shining through."

Should a gambling representative threaten a duly-elected official from his community? By doing so, what message did he just send to all the local "lesser" officials in Daviess County? And does he know that campaign contributions are limited to $2,000 by law?

For the past year, gambling expansionists have been making my job a lot easier by parading their comedy of errors before the public. My task is to inform people across the state that all these promised hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars come from one place – and one place only – Kentucky’s families.

You see, corporations don’t gamble. Businesses can’t gamble. Neither can institutions, centers of higher education, non-profit organizations, churches, synagogues, or mosques. Just moms and dads, and a few single folks. The millions upon millions the expansionists plan to extract will come from families – their retirement funds, savings accounts, set-aside funds for down-payments on a home or a new car, their kids’ college funds or any other place they have assets.

The attempt to sell the public on expanded gambling is just a simple seduction to shift the assets of families into the hands of the gambling industry, with some monies allocated for state government to assure the legislation’s passage. But make no mistake; Kentucky’s families are the targeted source of ALL of the revenue.

Moreover, in their zeal to sucker the public, gambling expansionists like the one in Owensboro have pushed the envelope of legality. First, just before the 2002 General Assembly session, numerous state legislators received handsome campaign contributions from Churchill Downs.

Next, during that session, a lobbyist for the gambling industry asked Senate President David Williams, "What must I do to get your vote?" Hello. General Assembly votes aren’t to be purchased or traded.

Last fall, of course, our casino-promoting governor manifested himself in more unreality.

And now, the chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee is the guy offering the next gambling bill? Anyone can document the rise in suicide, burglary, embezzlement, prostitution, personal bankruptcies, business bankruptcies, child abuse, spousal abuse, divorce, etc. – all associated with the introduction of gambling.

Does the chairman see "health and welfare" in a different way then most Kentuckians do? Is there any positive connection between feeding the gambling industry and maintaining health and welfare? Maybe a citizen or two whose health and welfare have been ruined by gambling at casinos or on slot machines should call this legislator up and ask, "Can you hear me now?" Or will their message just get lost in the static between real lives the promise of big money?

But even more, the bill that is being offered comes with a $400 million "pre-payment." It makes you wonder whether the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s going to be the first sucker lured by the dangling carrot of quick cash.

I’m afraid that, for expansionists, their bottom line is indeed their bottom line. But fortunately for families, gambling proponents will have to spend big bucks to convince us that more gambling is in our best interests. Because the expansionists’ "true colors are shining through," all we have to do is report the truth in black and white. When you add it all up, their help to our efforts thus far has been, well: priceless.