A House committee approved video lottery, the "crack cocaine'' of gambling, in a sneaky sell-out to the parimutuel slot machine lobby without even putting it on its agenda.

There was nothing about slot machines on the posted agenda for Tuesday's meeting of the Florida House Council for Smarter Government. That was just fine with the gambling lobby and its shills on that committee. The less public notice, the better.

At 4:50 p.m. Monday, just 10 minutes before the deadline, they filed an amendment proposing to legalize slots under the euphemism "video lottery." That language would give Florida's parimutuel establishments a monopoly on this new vice.

A share of the profits, such as they may be, would be earmarked to education. But that's the excuse, not the purpose. The purpose is to enrich a few people -- the parimutuels and gambling machine manufacturers -- at the expense of the many. Others who will profit include legislators whose campaign accounts will be rewarded even if the bill fails to pass or is vetoed as the governor has strongly implied.

The Senate Committee on Regulated Industries was scheduled to consider a similar bill Tuesday afternoon. Of that, at least, the public had been on notice since the week before, when it was postponed. The Senate versions were postponed again Tuesday, in large part because of timely filibustering by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Palm Harbor.

The House committee, on the other hand, grafted its sleazy work to a bill that originally proposed only to require dog tracks to set up greyhound adoption booths. That wholesome bill (remember what happens to used-up racing dogs that are not adopted) had already been subverted in another committee with an amendment opening wide the strictly limited card games for which the horse tracks, dog tracks and parimutuel frontons wheedled legislative permission some years ago. On Feb. 26, 2002 -- a day of infamy -- it would also become the vehicle for the first statewide slot scam since 1935.

This happened, with exquisite irony, on the same day that headlines reported research showing Floridians to be twice as likely as the national average to be victims of or prone to compulsive gambling. This appears to be a consequence not just of the lottery and the parimutuels, which are legal, but also of the federal government's indifference to unregulated gambling on Indian reservations and "cruises to nowhere." To hear some of the gambling lobbyists, that bad news is good news, as it means Florida should just submit the rest of the way, and enjoy it.

In truth and in justice, it means nothing of the sort. The remedy for a disease is not to have more of it.

These so-called "video lotteries" combine the worst aspects of hypnotic electronics and compulsive gambling. They have accurately been called the "crack cocaine" of gambling. They are vice. They are evil. To cloak them in an otherwise deserving purpose, the schools, is obscene. If there is to be truth and justice, it will mean that the legislators who have sold out to the parimutuel slot machine lobby will suffer the same fate as most of those who last voted for slots in 1935 and were not around to prevent repeal two years later.

Oh yes, the House committee's vote. That was part of the plan, too. Otherwise the House leadership would never have let the amendment come up. The committee accepted the amendment -- need you ask? -- without a roll call. Then it passed the amended bill, 7-5. It goes straight to the floor.

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