Stop Predatory Gambling
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NH newspaper exposes the phony narrative of the casino lobby
New Hampshire’s Seacoast Newspapers rips apart the phony messaging scheme of the predatory gambling operators lobbying for casinos in that state in an editorial published yesterday. Here it is: Of all the terrible arguments in favor of gambling, the fact… Read more
The gambling revenue “success” in the U.S.
More than two-thirds of states that legalized casinos, lotteries or racetrack casinos in the past 10 years have yet to see the state and local revenue that political and industry champions of legalization had promised. This fact, reported by Stateline.org,… 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
NY Times spotlights New York’s Bad Bet
Journalist Paul Davies, a fellow at the Institute for American Values, has an excellent op-ed today in The New York Times. Read it below: THE governor of New York, Andrew M. Cuomo, is sending his state down the same wrongheaded… Read more
Massachusetts predatory gambling bill gets even worse
Below is a strong Boston Globe editorial makes the case why the Governor of Massachusetts should veto the casino bill that may make its way to his desk: THE CASINO bill that the Legislature is sending to Governor Patrick is… Read more
Few things are more ridiculous in politics than watching casino money go up against casino money
Maine voters are about to vote for the sixth time in twelve years on whether to allow government to bring more predatory gambling into the state. Questions 2 and 3 would allow for racinos in Biddeford and Lewiston. A new… Read more
Government official personally thanked those who were scamming the Lottery for propping up flat sales
As if there was not a mountain of evidence already showing how government’s predatory gambling program is a major failure, along comes another damning news report. Andrea Estes of The Boston Globe has a must-read account about how the Massachusetts… Read more
Is there any state where people are not going over the border to gamble?
Below are three TV ads from different parts of the country that perfectly capture the phony narrative that predatory gambling operators promote in state after state to deceive voters into supporting the legalization of casinos. A central part of the… Read more
Unwieldly and unprofitable to taxpayers, the failed government program of casinos and lotteries will ultimately follow the path of OTB
The New York Times has an excellent story about one example of the failed government policy of predatory gambling – Off-Track-Betting in New York. Here is the the key excerpt from The NYT Times story which holds true for the… Read more
New York Looking to Expand Predatory Gambling Amid Economic Downturn
As reported in Tuesday’s New York Times, Governor Andrew Cuomo is considering changing the state’s constitution to legalize commercial casinos in the state. The Empire State already has five tribal casinos. The governor cites competition from neighboring states as a… Read more
More evidence why government needs to get out of the gambling business
False promises. Predatory practices. Deeper levels of personal debt. Expendable citizens. There is perhaps no present government policy that emits a more wretched stench of failure than government’s policy of predatory gambling. Here is the most recent evidence in what… Read more
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
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
Ohio taxpayers are only beginning to see the bill for their state’s predatory gambling program
Alexander Coolidge of The Cincinnati Inquirer has an excellent news story about how the state revenues from proposed Ohio casinos will be 40% less than what the casino interests promised during their unprecedented $60 million campaign in 2009 to amend… 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
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
The facts clearly prove the North Carolina Lottery is a failed public policy
In yet another expose about how the government program of predatory gambling is a failed public policy, The Winston-Salem Journal (NC) editorial board unmasks the North Carolina Lottery Here it is: The looming state budget crisis that threatens to land a staggering… Read more
Garden State Needs to Bury “Casino Reform” Bill
Wall Street ratings company Moody’s Investors Service said yesterday the New Jersey’s Legislature’s fast-tracked proposal to help Atlantic City’s casinos would add up to a “zero-sum game” because predatory gambling revenue would simply go “in one pocket and out the other.” The government… Read more
Rendell’s something-for-nothing scheme leaves Pennsylvania in a fiscal mess
Outgoing Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell’s primary legacy will be the introduction of casinos across the state. To sell his predatory gambling plan politically, he tied it to “tax relief.” So what does the future look like for the state’s taxpayers… 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
Sooners are getting swindled
In a news story that reads like a press release written by casino interests, The Oklahoman reports that state revenues from Indian gambling have soared in recent years, largely due to the success of casinos operated by the Chickasaw, Choctaw… 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
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
How you pay even if you do not play
The federal government has awarded $54 million to Connecticut’s politically well-connected Mohegan Indian tribe, which operates one of the highest grossing casinos in the U.S. The Mohegan tribe, which owns the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn., has been awarded… 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
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
You pay whether you play or not
Legislation that would allow the imposition of a new gross receipts tax in New Mexico’s Lincoln County has been signed into law. Revenues from the potential tax would finance a casino tax credit for the Ruidoso Downs Race Track and… Read more
Wall Street executives would be right at home among State Lottery officials
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that a Georgia state senator has pre-filed a bill that would force lottery officials to get legislative approval before they hand out bonuses to staffers. The bill from Senate Majority Whip Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) would… Read more
One of the undeniable truths about predatory gambling
Our growing movement to stop predatory gambling is the most diverse social movement in America. The reason for our opposition is not based on partisanship: we are non-partisan and our movement is made up of people whose views span the… 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