Another Senator has stepped up and taken a firm stance against the gaming machines that are spreading across our island, destroying families while making millionaires out of a few families getting rich on the Blood Money.
Kandit News has asked each Senator: "Dear senators, Have your campaigns ever received funding or in-kind contributions from Guam Music, Inc., Pedro Pangelinan, Lauron Bromley, Gil Shinohara, Connie Jo Shinohara, Johnny "Cool" Torres, Sheila Torres, Tom Tajalle, or any of their employees, affiliates, or associates? As you know, these people own and operate so-called Liberty machines (also called Symbolix and something else). These machines are poker machines by other names. Do you believe these machines and the gamerooms, restaurants, and children's amusement parks they are located in are harming our society?
Senator Régine Biscoe Lee told Kandit News today:
“My legislative record is clear: I do not support gambling."
Several other senators as well as Attorney General Leevin Camacho also haven taken stands firmly against the liberty machines and the Blood Money that flows from them.
Kandit News investigative series Blood Money has uncovered numerous ties to high ranking members of government including Port Deputy General Manager Connie Jo Brennan and inconsistent reporting data on annual income.
Our series Blood Money can be found here:
The Supreme Court of Guam is expected to issue a mandate in a case involving the issuance of gaming machine licenses, bringing the involved parties one step closer to knowing whether or not gaming devices are legal under local law. In February of this year General Camacho stated the following: “The position of the Office of the Attorney General has not changed in the decade-long question of whether gaming devices are legal or not. The Office firmly maintains that gambling devices cannot and should not be licensed on Guam. We will continue to take whatever action is necessary to see that the law is upheld and gambling devices are not licensed.”
In 2008, approximately 1,200 gaming devices were licensed in violation of Guam’s amusement devices licensing laws. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) sued the Department of Revenue and Taxation (DRT) to revoke the licenses. DRT revoked them after a court order. Then, Guam Music, Inc. (GMI) intervened in the case and filed a new lawsuit against DRT in an effort to force them to reissue its gambling machine licenses. The parties agreed to dismiss the two cases in 2012.
The OAG believed that this meant the gambling devices would remain unlicensed because it is not legal to license gambling devices. DRT, however, then issued gaming machine licenses. In response, the OAG filed its current case arguing that DRT should be prohibited from issuing gaming machine licenses. The Supreme Court’s issuance of the mandate will trigger the Superior Court to rule on two pending motions filed in 2016. The OAG’s motion deals with the merits of gaming regulations. The OAG has argued that the gaming regulations are invalid because they were submitted by DRT to the Legislature without complying with the Administrative Adjudication Law and they exceed DRT’s authority. After the proceedings in the Superior Court have run their course, the OAG expects a Supreme Court ruling that will ultimately decide the validity of the gaming device regulations once and for all.
Before we get rid of them....Make sure new ones aren't being licensed to replace any of the older models already being used.
Yes get rid of the damn machines
Let's see about the next election let's clean house trash unwanted once and for all.