| Arkansas At least $9,296,648 -- Includes 1996 ballot initiative spending only June 9, 1997 The only form of legal gambling in the Land of Opportunity is pari-mutuel, which takes place at exactly one dog track, in West Memphis, and one horse track, Oaklawn Park, in famously loose Hot Springs, where Bill Clinton grew up after leaving his town called Hope. This sleepy scene was disrupted last year when four gambling legalization measures battled for a slot on the Arkansas ballot. A fifth proposal would have banned all gambling, including the two existing racetracks. Each plan called for a lottery and charitable bingo; Oaklawn Park's plan, dubbed Amendment 4, added three casinos in Hot Springs, including one at its own racetrack. Only Amendment 4 reached the ballot, where Arkansas voters sank it, sending the gambling interests back to the drawing board -- and Arkansas gamblers back to the track. If you want to find out what the gambling interests are up to, itemized campaign contributions and lobbying reports are available only on paper, from the Arkansas Ethics Commission, at 25 cents per page. Mother Jones obtained the expenditures from last year's ballot battle, which give a small glimpse of what kind of money is at stake. According to the Arkansas Ethics Commission, the following committees spent over $9 million on their failed proposals:
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