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Iowa State Senator: “What kind of government bets against its own people?”
Iowa State Senator Brad Zaun published the following piece in The Des Moines Register. From Sen. Zaun: State government’s insatiable hunger to glean more money from citizens reached cleverly into homes across Iowa last week. The Senate passed a bill to… Read more
As Speaker, Gingrich gutted national commission to examine the failed government program of predatory gambling
Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, as Speaker of the House, “recommended a substantial weakening of a major bill to examine the runaway growth of legalized gambling in America” according to this Washington Post story from May 1, 1996. By eliminating… Read more
“They own your state”: In his own words, watch super lobbyist Jack Abramoff explain government’s failed partnership with predatory gambling
Speaking at Harvard University, former lobbyist Jack Abramoff explains how your state is “owned” by predatory gambling operators. He starts by explaining that “everything about the gambling industry is politics.” This aired on C-SPAN on December 27, 2011. Thanks to SPG… Read more
Former Addict: Online Casinos Run by New York, Other States Will Target Gambling Addicts
Former professional blackjack player Josh Axelrad writes an excellent piece in The Daily Beast about how the recent DOJ ruling allowing states to operate Internet gambling sites for profit will result in a system whose speed is stacked against compulsive… Read more
Who will fight for America’s Lottery Class if not the Department of Justice?
To underscore how much government’s predatory gambling program of casinos and lotteries best represents what is broken about the American political system, the U.S. Department of Justice released a highly controversial opinion – on the day much of the country is… Read more
Lottery Sales Rise to Record as Cash-Hungry States Search for More Revenue
While severe income inequality continues to worsen here in America, below is an excellent report from Bloomberg News on our government’s primary response to this major challenge: Facing growing unemployment, record home foreclosures, declining tax revenue and an annual budget… 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
Government-created gambling addicts are not equal citizens
In the news video below, WPRI recently spotlighted how more than HALF the revenues from government’s casino program comes from citizens who have been turned into gambling addicts- citizens just like Sandy Hall who appears in this story. She lost… 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
“Ultimately, this is about protecting the general welfare and these people, quite frankly, failed that responsibility miserably.”
Parx Casino, a Pennsylvania casino which has local residents losing money 200 times a year thanks to marketing practices like “free play,” continues to be in the news for the large number of parents who have been caught leaving their… Read more
New Jersey government to end its policy of predatory gambling…for one day
Up and down the East Coast today, government leaders are declaring a state of emergency and ordering residents to evacuate shoreline areas in advance of Hurricane Irene. The storm is so menacing that it is forcing Atlantic City’s 11 casinos… Read more
An opportunity to finally have a national conversation about the failed policy of predatory gambling
The New York Post reports today there will be a renewed push in Congress this fall to legalize predatory internet gambling across America.
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
Mayor Rahm Emanuel explains why a Chicago casino is one of his top priorities
In a remarkable example of how we no longer challenge citizens to work for better government, Mayor Emanuel quotes JFK in defending his choice to make a Chicago casino a top priority.
Maine moves closer to “casino republic” status
Dennis Bailey, the talented, longtime leader of CasinosNo! in Maine, sent out the news alert below early this morning. From Dennis: Yesterday, the Maine House of Representatives bowed to the unprecedented lobbying campaign by the pro-casino forces and approved three… Read more
“The smell of desperation on slot machines permeates our political class”
Responding to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s drive for a Chicago casino, journalist James Warren writes one of the best op-ed pieces we have read in some time about the failed policy of predatory gambling. It is a must-read. Here are… Read more
State-sponsored gambling wildly exceeds the kind of gambling offered by local bookies
A common misperception among some public officials around the country is the idea that if government was not in the predatory gambling business, all of the extreme forms of gambling being promoted today would be available at the local bookie… Read more
A New Low in America’s Predatory Gambling Policy
In an action that symbolizes the broken condition of government in several states across the country, the Illinois Legislature passed a bill that would add five new casinos to the ten casinos already legalized in the state. It includes a… Read more
New report out of West Virginia offers more damning evidence about how predatory gambling is a failed government policy
West Virginia recently released some jaw-dropping data about the impact of the failed government policy of predatory gambling in that state. Here are some key findings: 1) Since the Problem Gamblers Help Network of West Virginia began operating about 10… Read more
Is there a soup kitchen across the street from Pebble Beach Golf Course?
In states across America, predatory gambling operators and some political officials have deceptively framed their proposals as a push to legalize “destination resort casinos.” They use the frame to avoid arousing serious questioning by media, legislators and citizens about the… Read more
The failed policy of exploiting human weakness for profit faces unrelenting fire in Australia
A MUST-READ piece by the editors of The Kings Tribune from Australia about why government’s partnership with predatory gambling interests is a failed public policy. They make a powerful, evidenced-based public argument. Here it is: Don’t gamble with human weakness… Read more
Local Iowa citizen pulls back the curtain on the state’s “good corporate citizens”
Antonia Russo of Iowa wrote an excellent guest commentary in the Iowa City Press-Citizen that underscores how casinos in Iowa have failed to deliver the mythical economic and public revenue boost they promised twenty years ago. Nice work, Antonia. Read… Read more
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
A good day for Illinois and for America
There was another major decision by an Illinois court this week besides Rahm Emanuel’s bid to stay on the Chicago mayoral ballot. The Illinois State Court of Appeals ruled the General Assembly violated the state constitution when they bundled a… Read more
Double Standard for Casinos?
A recent story highlights the ongoing problem of hackers accessing customer databases at Las Vegas casinos. This could put thousands of people’s credit card and other financial information at risk. When retail giant TJX experienced a computer security breach by… Read more
Granite State of Mind
Jim Rubens, the remarkable leader against predatory gambling in New Hampshire, recently shared that less than 36 hours before they will be called upon to vote this Wednesday, New Hampshire’s five Executive Councilors received a “Late Item” request to approve… 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
Georgia’s “Education” Lottery Proving to Be Hopeless
The New York Times ran a major story on Friday about the tenuous future of the Hope Scholarship program- a merit-based college scholarship program funded by the financial losses of Georgia’s working poor. The money gets redistributed thanks to the… Read more
Eyes Wide Shut
Professor Fred Gottheil, a faculty member in the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois, writes a powerful opinion piece on government and predatory gambling in The Springfield Journal-Register, the state capitol’s newspaper. Read it below: Hockey is a… Read more
Blizzard shuts down nearly all of state government but the Lottery sleds on
Across the northeast today, government leaders have declared a state of emergency as a massive blizzard roars through the region. All nonemergency state and city workers were ordered to stay home. Yet despite the severe blizzard, at least one government… Read more
Oregon Lottery’s holiday advertising campaign sinks to new low
The Oregon Lottery is running a new ad campaign this holiday season, “What’s in Santa’s Beard?“ It adds more momentum to the emerging national push to stop lottery advertising and end its exemption from truth-in-advertising laws. Look at the ads below… Read more
New Jersey bill doesn’t “reform” casino regulations – it destroys them
Below is a must-read column written by former N.J. Casino Commission member Carl Zeitz that appears in today’s Press of Atlantic City newspaper. It is a response to the push by predatory gambling interests to emasculate New Jersey’s oversight of casinos…. Read more
Virginia newspaper on the mark with editorial opposing predatory gambling
The Virginian Pilot newspaper has a strong editorial today against expanding predatory gambling in their state. The media plays a critical role in exposing the deceptions and falsehoods spread by the predatory gambling interests and we applaud their staff for… Read more
Governor-elect Cuomo must act against secret New York casino scheme
The New York Times reports that lame duck New York State Governor David Paterson is near an agreement with an out-of-state Indian tribe to build a full-scale casino in Sullivan County only 90 miles from Manhattan. As is typical with… Read more
Leaderless in Illinois
Predatory gambling profits in Illinois are in a free fall. The state already has an aggressive state Lottery, nine casinos (a tenth is on the way) and recently passed a proposal to turn bars and restaurants across the state into… Read more
“Gambling-addicted governments enslaving others”
A must-read column today by Susan Martinuk of The Calgary Herald. Read it below: Most of us don’t wake up each morning wondering what we can do to lose a lot of money today. But, apparently, a growing proportion of Canadians do and,… Read more
Indiana Supreme Court Exempts Casinos from State Common Law
Yesterday the Indiana Supreme Court ruled against a woman who said a riverboat preyed on her gambling addiction. Jenny Kephart of Nashville, Tenn., filed a lawsuit against Caesars Indiana in 2007 after the Ohio River casino near Louisville, Ky., sued… Read more
An Iceberg of Greed Sinking Foxwoods Casino
For more than ten years, Jeff Benedict has been one of the most articulate and politically astute leaders to stop predatory gambling in America. Today, he published a must read op-ed in The Hartford Courant about the dire situation facing… Read more
Stupid Policy Leads to Stupid Behavior
A story out of Pennsylvania today describes a new legislative effort to punish parents who go to area casinos and leave behind their children in the car. The push comes after there were seven cases involving 12 children left in… Read more
Your Midnight Ride to Riches!
Tom Mashberg writes an entertaining opinion piece in The Boston Herald mocking the push by predatory gambling interests to build casinos at major historical landmarks across America. “It should be clear by now that our wealth of past glories is… Read more
Forgetting what they did there
This week the Pennsylvania Gambling Control Board is holding public hearings on a proposed casino in Gettysburg – a place where more than 50,000 men were killed, wounded or captured in one of the most important events in American history. More… Read more
The Economist hosts a debate on gambling
Over the past week The Economist has been conducting a debate on whether government should have no restrictions on gambling. Stop Predatory Gambling was invited to make the case against the proposition. Here are the opening statements, the rebuttal statements… Read more
What we own is broken and it’s up to us to fix it
News about another massive public corruption scandal spread across America yesterday. This time in New Jersey. It comes on the heels of other recent corruption scandals, extreme examples of mismanagement and inept leadership from around the country including Illinois, California, Pennsylvania,… Read more
Casinos are worse than nothing
The Boston Globe has an excellent story this morning about how predatory gambling continues to expand once it enters a state. Why during these severe economic times does government continue encouraging its citizens to lose their money instead of urging… Read more
Tax collector becomes another victim of “voluntary taxation”
The Philadelphia Inquirer has a somber story about Michael O’Neill, a local tax collector who embezzled $225,000 to feed a gambling addiction at the Parx Casino just outside of Philadelphia. Many public officials defend the government program of predatory gambling… Read more
A huge ripoff even by the standards of a business based on ripoffs
The Baltimore Sun reports Maryland state government agreed this week to pay nearly $50 million to buy about 1,000 slot machines for the planned Cecil County casino. Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, a longtime leader against the government program of predatory… Read more
Integrity and lotteries are mutually exclusive
A Florida woman is suing the Florida Lottery over its refusal to pay a $500,000 prize on an allegedly misprinted ticket. Ann Marie Curcio received the $20 ticket from her husband for Mother’s Day in 2007. But when they tried… Read more
The truth still the same 18 years later
The Hartford Courant, the largest daily newspaper in a state with two of the biggest casinos in the world, published an editorial yesterday with the headline “Is gambling worth it?” It strongly questions whether the small percentage of overall budget… Read more
Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes rips predatory gambling
Last night Andy Rooney took aim at the government program of predatory gambling and scored a direct hit. Here are his comments: “I have good news for you tonight. According to an American Gaming Association report, revenue from casino gambling… Read more
Deadbeat optimists
The Miami New Times has a terrific cover story this week portraying the business and politics around predatory gambling in Florida, all done with the government’s blessing. It is a must-read. Within the story, the reporter described a frequent casino… Read more
Why does our government consider this man less equal?
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… Read more
Going head to head with porn nowhere to be found in the Constitution
The New York Times has a story about Off Track Betting, another example of the government program of predatory gambling in action. Despite losses of tens of millions of dollars, the New York OTB’s board of directors voted to keep… Read more
Whatever happened to Reinventing Government?
In the early 1990’s, David Osborn wrote a book titled Reinventing Government which for a time received significant national acclaim for its ideas on how to make government work better. The energy around reinventing government was so infectious in the… Read more
The government program like no other
The Las Vegas Sun reported yet another lawsuit has been filed involving Harrah’s for its unparalleled predatory business practices. Christian Peterson, a 41-year old Wisconsin business owner, has testified that Harrah’s pressured him into signing a $3.45 million loan- known… 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
The palace of truth and justice
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell recently signed a new law expanding predatory gambling which included legalizing table games and allowing casinos to extend credit to players. In a media interview, Rendell believes his state didn’t have much choice since extending unsecured… Read more
A republic if you can keep it
At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, 1787, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin as he emerged from the long task now finished: “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” “A republic… Read more
Kansas becomes a casino republic
Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Boot Hill Casino in Dodge City, Kansas yesterday. The casino opening is significant because it represents the first state-owned casino in America. Kansas state government is now “the house.”… Read more
The Chairman of the Expendable Americans caste
The Wall Street Journal has a MUST-READ story about Terrance Watanabe, the Nebraska man who lost nearly $127 million during a year-long gambling binge at the Caesars Palace and Rio casinos in 2007. The government is a full-fledged partner in… Read more
The Oregon Lottery is addicted to addicted gamblers
According to a news report by The Oregonian, a major newspaper in the state, more than half the money the Oregon Lottery collects from video gambling — about $375 million last year — comes from a small number of Oregonians,… 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
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
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
The Casino Olympics
Chicago may have lost its bid to host the Olympics but two Chicago aldermen, evidently bewildered by all the Olympic spirit, yesterday proposed to build a casino complex where the city had hoped to build an Olympic Village. The Olympics promote… Read more
Betraying the promise of America
A newly released report from the Nebraska Gamblers Assistance Program lists the average gambling debt of 250 people who sought gambling-treatment services in the last fiscal year at nearly $27,000. Most of the debt came as a result of citizens… Read more
A movement to restore economic principles and values
New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote a MUST READ column on America’s critical loss of economic values. And the first culprit he targets on the list is state-sponsored predatory gambling. Brooks writes: “Evidence of this shift in values is… Read more
Saving what was supposed to be the savior?
When casinos were legalized in Gary, Indiana, they were supposed to “save Gary.” Now, there are five casinos that stretch for 30 miles. Yet in a story that has been repeated over and over again across America, the casinos have… Read more
State-sponsored predatory gambling defies the Constitution
Yesterday was Constitution Day, a day celebrating the creation of the U.S. Constitution signed on September 17, 1787. One of the Constitution’s most vital missions, established clearly in its preamble, is “to promote the general welfare.” State-sponsored predatory gambling violates… Read more
A police escort for scratch tickets?
Most states are facing severe budget problems yet in Arkansas, the State Lottery Director just paid for a police escort for a truckload of new scratch tickets. Read the story here. How can any reasonable person, from whatever place on… Read more
Will Indiana lead the way to stop predatory gambling?
Indiana is about to experience the reality of a something for nothing scheme which is more commonly described as “casino capitalism.” As surrounding states like Michigan, Ohio and Illinois all consider adding more extreme forms of predatory gambling into their… Read more
New York Times spotlights state-sponsored predatory gambling
The New York Times ran a must-read story about how states are facing a drop in their revenues from predatory gambling. According to the story: “The data shows that states take a real chance in depending on gambling because this… 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
Racial profiling, Lottery-style
Jodie Winnett, acting superintendent of the Illinois Lottery, reinforces the truth why the Lottery is the most predatory institution still standing in America in this news story from Abraham Lincoln’s hometown newspaper. According to the news report: “…the state on… Read more
The daily voice of government to most Americans
Lottery advertising is the daily voice of government. During these severe economic times, is the daily voice of government persuading people to buy saving bonds so they can get out of debt and accumulate the capital they need to live… Read more
Illinois is asking the right questions about video poker
Yesterday, the Illinois Gambling Board publicly shared some of its analysis about efforts to place 45,000 video poker machines in every bar and tavern in the state. One Board member described it as “the equivalent of putting up 50 new casinos… Read more
Be sure to touch the magnificent cloth
Public discussions around predatory gambling continue to focus mostly on superficial aspects like how “momentum is building for slot machines” yet there is virtually no analysis of the product or business model for which “momentum is building.” This story from… Read more
Ohio attempts to exploit its younger generation
Even though Ohio citizens have voted four times against legalizing casinos in their state, state officials found a legally questionable way to bring them into Ohio through executive order. Now state officials want the legal age to use slot machines… Read more
An Inconvenient Truth About Lottery Funding
Today’s Denver Post has an interview with Lise Aangeenbrug, Executive Director of Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO). GOCO receives 50% of the proceeds from the Colorado Lottery and invests it in open space, parks and wildlife habitats. The Lottery is its… Read more
Manifest Destiny and Predatory Gambling
Manifest Destiny is a term that was used in the 19th century to designate the belief that the United States was destined, even divinely ordained, to expand across the North American continent, from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean…. 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
To achieve our potential as a nation, we need to disrupt these practices
A former casino employee was arrested yesterday for hacking into a Pennsylvania casino’s computer system. He is accused of disrupting the Mount Airy Casino’s computer system, including access cards used for gambling. These access cards are more commonly referred to… Read more
It would not have been “difficult” for Horace Mann
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley said yesterday the decision to cut the state’s Lottery advertising budget was a “difficult” one. Maryland uses lottery revenues to help fund public education. Consider how the father of America’s system of public education, Horace Mann,… Read more
The predatory gambling movement heats up in Arkansas
Check out this news story about the South Carolina Lottery. Here’s an excerpt: “A review of demographic studies commissioned by the South Carolina Education Lottery, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows that although low-income and minority groups may… 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
I know what Sam Adams would do with a casino ATM
Yesterday a woman was arrested at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, PA for stealing from the ATM accounts of casino visitors. She obviously did not know that casinos monitor the ATM activity of their patrons better than most of the patrons themselves…. Read more
Deception lies at the core of the predatory gambling trade
Ohio election officials have found that predatory gambling advocates used the signatures of deceased voters in their signature collection effort to put a referendum legalizing casinos on the November ballot. In this story, The Dayton Daily News reports: The Montgomery County board ruled… 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