FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2004

Game Nearly Over for Propositions 68 & 70

Newspaper Endorsement Tally: NO = 36, YES = 0

Sacramento -- With less than two weeks until the election and zero newspaper endorsements, it looks like the game's nearly over for supporters of Propositions 68 and 70. So far a near record 36 California newspapers have editorialized against the gaming initiatives. Here are some excerpts from the most recent editorials:

Propositions 68 and 70 are "shams funded by special interests whose real intention is to expand gambling in California and reap more benefits." (LA Daily News, 10/20/04)

"...Props 68 and 70 are essentially political blackmail. We don't like commercial gambling interests telling the state that if tribes don't pay, the Vegas crew gets to come in and turn California into another Nevada. Nor do we like the tribes telling the state that it can't ever allow slot machines outside of a reservation." (SF Bay Guardian, 10/13/04-10/19/04)

Proposition 70 is a "sweet-sounding deal, but one that comes with a huge price: tribes get the right to unlimited growth…expansion of gaming to include craps, roulette and other games now barred, and the exclusive right to operate casinos. Let Sacramento set the terms of the deals and do the regulating, not those who stand to gain magnificent personal wealth from the enterprise." (Monterey County Weekly, 10/14/04)

"Each proposition vows to make tribes pay their 'fair share' of casino profits to the state. The truth is that gambling would spread faster and further across California with less government control. We should be narrowing the scope of gaming in California, not widening its horizons and social impact." (The Salinas Californian, 10/21/04)

"Indian Gaming Props are losers." (Tulare Advance Register, 10/18/04)

Newspapers that Oppose Propositions 68 & 70:

Bakersfield Californian
Chico Enterprise Record
Chico News and Review
Contra Costa Times
Fresno Bee
Hanford Sentinel
La Opinion
Long Beach Press Telegram
Los Altos Town Crier
Los Angeles Daily News
Los Angeles Times
Milpitas Post
Modesto Bee
Monterey County Weekly
North County Times
Orange County Register
Pasadena Star-News
Redding Record-Searchlight
Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Business Journal
San Bernardino County Sun
San Diego Union Tribune
San Francisco Chronicle
San Jose Mercury News
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Santa Maria Times
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Selma Enterprise
SF Bay Guardian
SF Business Journal
Stockton Record
Tulare Advance Register
Vacaville Reporter
Visalia Times-Delta
Woodland Daily Democrat

No on Propositions 68 and 70 - Governor Schwarzenegger's Committee for Fair Share Gaming Agreements with major funding from Governor Schwarzenegger's California Recovery Team. FPPC ID# 1266181