Forget Bingo...find jobs!

     In his On The Record* interview this past Sunday, Democratic Candidate for Governor Ron Sparks kept referring back to legalizing gambling of one kind or another. He said there was some $500-Million on the table that Alabama could put toward education if we allowed, but limited and taxed "world class casinos". (To put that in perspective, the two major spending plans in the state are at about $8-Billion.)
     There's no doubt Bingo would create some jobs, and that in the  long run, has to be the most important goal of all of the candidates right now.
     Alabama's jobless rate was stable in March...but it was stable at 11.1%, the highest figure in decades. And those figures don't count the discouraged Alabamians who have just stopped looking.
     A Washington Post story today explores that part of the unemployed population, and it's not reading for the faint of heart (or for people searching for work!). I'm confident the profiles in that story could be duplicated easily here in Alabama.
      Worse yet, the Obama Administration says the national jobless rate will likely go up before it goes down.
    Will the Alabama rate for March show a decline when it is released in a week or two? Will it continue to creep up (The New Era Hat layoffs will be part of the count for that month)?
     Forget the Bingo fight---other than the jobs part of it. Where are the plans to generate new above-minimum-wage jobs?

[*NOTE: The new program premiered on CBS-8 on Sunday at 5:30. We're pre-empted by the Tiger Show--otherwise known as The Masters--- this Sunday, then back with Artur Davis on 4/18, followed by the GOP candidates.)