Jon, I used to live just north of Baton Rouge, and for me the defining moment of Louisiana politics was when the $1000 checks from the gambling interests were handed out on the floor of the Legislature. This was while Louisiana government was deciding the disposition of riverboard casinos v. a land-based operation (they decided for both), in spite of a constitutional prohibition on gambling.
I predict we’ll have some of the same people in town in about five or ten years or so, after the smaller-than-promoted lottery revenues are wholly consumed by waste, fraud, or misallocation.