Stop Predatory Gambling

Why does our government consider this man less equal?

by spgadmin

A Massachusetts firefighter/­paramedic was arrested for embezzling $46,000 from his labor union’s bank account to feed a gambling addiction at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.

As the 35-year old firefighter was arraigned in court, the defendant’s elderly father watched from the second row of the gallery.

“I feel very sad,” said the father through a friend who acted as an interpreter. The father said he came to America as a refugee from Vietnam in 1980. His son, then 5, and his older sister came with him, he said.

“He’s a very good kid,” the father said. “Recently he had become a very compulsive gambler, and that got him into trouble.”

The business model for casinos like Foxwoods is based on exploiting out-of-control gamblers like this firefighter. They avoid scrutiny because our government is a partner.

In America, equal citizenship is one of our most sacred democratic principles – all blood is royal here. Yet casinos only exist because our government willingly deems some of our fellow citizens as expendable. Citizens just like this firefighter.