Stop Predatory Gambling
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America’s evolving “two-caste society” is due in no small part to government’s predatory program
Today, David Brooks of The New York Times spotlights the recent book by Charles Murray titled “Coming Apart.” Brooks writes: ” Murray’s basic argument is not new, that America is dividing into a two-caste society. What’s impressive is the incredible… Read more
Oregon: Welcome to the International House of Lottery
At a time when many state governments are relentlessly pushing highly predatory forms of gambling to its citizens, Oregon may claim the title as the biggest predator. To point out just one of many examples, it is virtually impossible to… Read more
How did America’s leaders view predatory gambling operators during the Great Depression?
During the Great Depression, leaders like the legendary New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia aggressively went after those who preyed on the financial struggles of his city’s working class. Below is a brief video of Mayor La Guardia dumping… Read more
New U.S. Census report shows poverty rate at its highest level in fifty years; Government responds with a failed policy that further shrinks the middle class
The New York Times reports today that another 2.6 million people slipped into poverty in the United States last year and the number of Americans living below the official poverty line, 46.2 million people, was the highest number in the… Read more
Philadelphia leads way against “Quicksand credit” at casinos
Casino-Free Philadelphia, a vocal and effective citizens group against government’s policy of predatory gambling in that city, is hosting a meeting TOMORROW, Saturday, Sept. 10 from 1:30 to 4:30 PM at their Center City office, 714 Market Street, Suite 3…. Read more
Hard times are great for state lotteries
In the fiscal year that ended June 30, California Lottery sales rose $400 million, or 13 percent, joining a long list of states that saw sales increases, including Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Texas. Scratch ticket sales helped fuel California’s… Read more
New film reveals how the failed policy of predatory gambling has impacted the black community
The Penn Program on Documentaries & the Law has produced a film examining gambling addiction and its effects on the African-American community in Philadelphia, weaving together interviews from community leaders, casino patrons and academics. Watch it below.
Everyone was greedy
The world’s most famous something-for-nothing schemer Bernie Madoff said in a recent interview from his North Carolina prison that “everyone was greedy” when referring to his clients who lost billions of dollars. Madoff’s statement better describes what is broken about… Read more
The scales of justice crash over for casinos
Liz Benston of The Las Vegas Sun provides an interesting glimpse into the debt collection practices of the most predatory business in America. Benston writes: Nevada casinos commonly grant credit to gamblers who provide evidence of sizable bank accounts to… Read more
MLK would have strongly fought against the government program of predatory gambling
As the nation honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King today, it is fitting to consider how Dr. King would view the major challenges facing our nation. There can be no doubt that Dr. King would be standing alongside… Read more
Report shows N.C. lottery sales thrive in the state’s poorest counties
A new report from NC Policy Watch shows that North Carolina lottery sales tend to be higher per capita in counties where poverty is also high. Read the full story here. Of the $1.4 billion spent on the lottery tickets… Read more
Profiting by pushing their fans into deeper debt
Officials from the four major professional sports franchises in the Boston area – the Red Sox, the Patriots, the Celtics and the Bruins – gathered together yesterday to heap praise on their business partnership with the State Lottery to sell… Read more
How the daily voice of government wants us to change the world
The ad below from the Washington Lottery asks us “whose world can you change? Every bird should get a chance to fly.” One out of five of Americans now think the best way to achieve financial security is to play… Read more
Soaking the Lottery Class and the Investor Class
Below is yet another example of the daily voice of government to most Americans, this time from the North Carolina “Education” Lottery. Today, one out of five Americans believe the best way to achieve long-term financial security is to play… Read more
Casinos put people on welfare and profit from welfare
California casinos continue to reel from news reports that the state’s casinos are profiting from the gambling losses of welfare recipients using taxpayer-funded debit cards. How did the casinos respond? They expressed surprise that the ATMs can be used by… Read more
Why you pay higher taxes because of predatory gambling
The Morning Call, a newspaper based in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, ran a story yesterday revealing that much of the roughly $4.8 million a week being lost at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem is likely coming from people who are poor. According… Read more
Turning the American Dream into a something-for-nothing scheme
Nearly every state Attorney General in America has sued subprime lenders for their predatory lending practices. Congress acted to roll back the predatory practices of credit card companies. Yet across the country, there is a massive effort to expand the… Read more
First-rate reporting on the Lottery as a predatory institution
Pam Zubeck of the Colorado Spring Independent writes a terrific story this week on the Colorado Lottery. Zubeck writes: “In 2008, Carnegie Mellon University looked into why the jackpot dream seems particularly attractive to people with low incomes. Researchers found… Read more
Financial losses, not winning, is the purpose of the new Sex in the City slot machines
The Las Vegas Sun reports about the new Sex in the City slot machine based on the hit TV show. According to the story: Although typical slot machines feature one screen of spinning reels, this game divides the screen into… Read more
Lottery items belong next to other examples of injustice from American history
The Kentucky Historical Society is adding some early items of the 20-year-old Kentucky Lottery to its collection. Here is an excerpt from the Louisville Courier Journal story: “We are trying to be pro-active in collecting materials that people see today… Read more
The New Grinch
The Illinois Lottery is launching a new campaign to encourage people to buy lottery scratch tickets this holiday season. The campaign encourages people to “Joy Someone” by giving special holiday scratch-offs to the unsung heroes in their lives. Central to… Read more
Why do you think they called the movie American Casino?
The Baltimore Sun ran an article today about the recently released documentary American Casino which spotlights the shocking story of the subprime lending scandal, the U.S. financial system failure and how mortgage companies ripped off the poor. The filmmakers selected… Read more
Taking action against allowing casinos to extend credit to slot machine users
Philadelphia citizens are rightly challenging legislation that would allow casinos to extend easy credit to anyone playing a slot machine. They are organizing an action outside of State Senator Shirley Kitchen’s district office this afternoon at 1:30pm. Participating groups include:… Read more
Who stands for the children of the Lottery Class?
Education advocates are pressing the Oregon Lottery Commission to reduce what they say are overly generous payouts to bars and taverns that host the state’s video gambling machines. Stand for Children and other groups say the lottery has provided excessive… Read more
The new story line about the predatory gambling trade in America
The Massachusetts Legislature held a public hearing on casinos last week and not one of the gambling operators who testified denied that their business model, their product or their marketing was predatory. 1) They did not deny that casinos earn… Read more
The government program that profits from addicted and heavily indebted people
The Tennessee lottery is attempting to add the Mega Millions game to its lineup and will vote next Monday on the proposal. Rebecca Hargrove, CEO and president of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. said new innovations aren’t a reaction to… Read more
Casino capitalism only benefits the casino operators
The crisis on Wall Street- AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bernie Madoff and so on – are all part of what’s been called “casino capitalism” – using predatory practices and financial gimmicks to promote an illusion of free money, all at the… Read more
Innovative at pushing people into even deeper levels of debt
Margaret DeFrancisco, Georgia Lottery Corp. president and CEO, was selected to be the next president of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) this week. She will serve a one-year term in addition to her current role… Read more
Florida families are being denied a chance to live the real American Dream
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said he heard the concerns that lawmakers are raising about the predatory gambling compact that he signed Monday with the Seminole Tribe but said he hopes that the Legislature will ratify it anyway. Crist said. “I… Read more
Life, liberty and the pursuit of debt
“States end up losers in gambling pullback” reads the headline in today’s Wall Street Journal. The story highlights how many states who have embraced predatory gambling as a revenue source are facing even worse budget problems. Because states are so… Read more
Why not really measure public opinion on predatory gambling?
I wrote a brief post on a state blog yesterday which is relevant to every state debating predatory gambling. When the media polls the issue of predatory gambling, the polling question is nearly always oversimplified or mischaracterizes the position of… Read more
He meant to say that state lotteries are like a “bank heist”
In trying to make the case why lottery employees should receive such extravagant salaries, the embattled state lottery director in Arkansas compared his operations to a bank. Lotteries could be compared to a bank that Bernie Madoff might run or a bank… Read more
Wal-Mart refuses to sell predatory gambling products
Once again, Wal-Mart has rejected efforts by state lotteries to sell lottery products in their stores. Read the story here. Why does Wal-Mart continue to say no? Because predatory gambling hurts the financial condition of working families everywhere. Promoted in… Read more