$650/Month For Cars Goes To Part-Time Gaming Board Members

Ben Simmoneau of WGAL uncovers more of the luxuries of state government work, this time by the Gaming Control Board members. Doug Harbach tries to defend the perks saying,

"You have to remember, too, that as we move forward in gaming, all these expenses, whether it's cars, whether it's salaries and so forth, are all being paid by operators of the slot machines, and not out of taxpayer pockets."

Of course, taking a share of the profits from gamblers losses is pretty much the same thing as a tax. And don't forget that the first two years of the boards' expenses were "borrowed" from General Fund taxes while we waited for gambling money. Unfortunately that wasn't Harbach's worst line of defense:

"Harbach said commissioners need cars because they don't all live near Harrisburg. Plus, he said, it's a small amount of money compared to the total revenue coming in."

Why, there's almost a billion coming in from gambling taxes, why not just take a few hundred thousand for yourself?