Focus

Native American Tribes and Payday Lenders Partnering to Avoid Oversight

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To help “broaden” their portfolio, some Native American tribes are now partnering with pay day lenders to allow such companies to circumvent state laws in nearly 20 states, according to a recent report by the Center for Public Integrity.

Well-intended people have been talking about alternate economic solutions for Native American tribes for more than twenty years. Yet there is no sense of urgency for these Native American tribes to change their predatory business partnerships and, as evidenced by their entrance into the payday lending arena, the situation is getting worse.

Fights over tribal payday lenders show challenges of financial reform

CkirbyNative American Tribes and Payday Lenders Partnering to Avoid Oversight
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North Carolina Community College Students Become “Collateral Damage”

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The North Carolina House recently voted on a budget that will cut financial aid from lottery funds to low-income community college students. Since creating the state Lottery in 2005, lawmakers have “tinkered with the formula” that initially allocated 10 percent of half its net proceeds to need-based college scholarships.

Aid to North Carolina Students Cut to Repay Debts

CkirbyNorth Carolina Community College Students Become “Collateral Damage”
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Predatory Gambling Negatively Affects Families

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A 2010 article from the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada details the evidence linking gambling addiction to negative socio-economic consequences for Canadian families as the government attempts to “chase after increasing revenue.”

Government Gambling and Broken Families: How Problem Gambling Affects Families

CkirbyPredatory Gambling Negatively Affects Families
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Why Far Fewer Bettors Pony Up on the Horses

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This Las Vegas Sun article offers some insights as to why horse racing events are “going the way of Latin.”  It describes how horse racing revenue has declined 30 percent at Nevada casinos in the past decade even as other forms of gambling, after taking a hit in the recession, have increased over that period.

2011 Why Far Fewer Bettors Pony Up on the Horses

CkirbyWhy Far Fewer Bettors Pony Up on the Horses
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The Reverse Robin Hood Effect

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Using data acquired from the Florida Lottery Commission, Florida scholars assessed what groups were benefiting from the lottery-funded Florida Bright Futures Scholarships and who were being harmed. Not surprisingly, the study reported that the “net benefits of the scholarships accrue disproportionately to counties with heavier concentrations of white, wealthy, and well-educated households.” The study concluded by stating: “If the Florida Bright Futures Scholarships are going to be made more equitable, the citizens who are harmed — the poor, the less-educated, and minorities, as well as citizens who care about fairness — need to get involved.”

The second study below uses survey data and finds similar results.

The Reverse Robin Hood Effect – The Distribution of Net Benefits From the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship

Some Futures Are Brighter than Others – The Net Benefits Received by Florida Bright Futures Scholarships

CkirbyThe Reverse Robin Hood Effect
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West Virginia Legislature Votes to Fund State’s Racinos

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In March 2011, West Virginia’s State Legislature voted on a bill that will use $10 million from an existing lottery to fund the state’s racinos for 10 years. Del. Mitch Carmichael, of Jackson, called the bill “the most ‘ridiculous’ he’s seen in several years.”

“Why should we single out a particular industry, the gaming industry and the Greenbrier Hotel, to give them special $10 million giveaways from the people of West Virginia,” Carmichael asked. “I just think it sets the wrong priorities.”

West Virginia Legislature Votes to Fund Racinos with Public Money

LesWest Virginia Legislature Votes to Fund State’s Racinos
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Government-Run Gambling Bigger Than Organized Crime

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Should our democratic institutions be competing with organized crime for revenue? Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Monica Yant Kinney discovers an important distinction between illegal underground gambling and government-sponsored predatory gambling: “Bookies don’t prey on gamblers. Bookies don’t solicit. Gamblers find them.”

This lies in stark contrast to state governments using taxpayer money to solicit our fellow citizens to play the lottery and providing tax incentives to allow casinos to come to town.

Pennsylvania Competing with Mob Bookies

CkirbyGovernment-Run Gambling Bigger Than Organized Crime
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Internet Sweepstakes: Coming to a Strip Mall Near You

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Internet sweepstakes cafes are popping up all over the country. One of the highlights from the article below is a quote from someone making big money in the sweepstakes industry on his customer base: “Lower-income customers are coming in because they’re bad at math…It’s like the lottery. The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math. They’re coming in to try and catch a big break.”

Strip-Mall Casinos Multiply Across Nation

CkirbyInternet Sweepstakes: Coming to a Strip Mall Near You
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“I Have a Feeling…I Can’t Quite Pinpoint the Research”

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This April 2011 article from the Philadelphia Citypaper reports on Sands Bethlehem (PA) Casino president Robert DeSalvio testifying before the Pennsylvania Legislature that sending monthly statements to gamblers about their losses will violate privacy and may encourage citizens to gamble more because it will remind them about their loss, potentially creating the urge to chase. When asked what the basis of his claim was, he responded: “I have a feeling…I can’t quite pinpoint the research.”

Casinos spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year to build the very best information databases on their gamblers, allowing them to send all kinds of predatory marketing materials – often in real time – with the specific intent of getting the gambler to chase. DeSalvio’s testimony was willfully dishonest.

Philadelphia Citypaper – Care to Revise Your Statement

Ckirby“I Have a Feeling…I Can’t Quite Pinpoint the Research”
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Hitting Rock Bottom – West Virginia and the Problem Gambling Help Line

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West Virginia recently released some jaw-dropping data about the impact of the failed government policy of predatory gambling in that state. Among the findings was that in one county, one out of every 87 residents has called the 24-hour problem gambling hotline seeking help for themselves or a loved one. What is even more troubling about that finding is only about 10% of problem gamblers seek help at all. That means 90% of the problem gamblers in the county have not called the hotline.

Hitting Rock Bottom – Ohio County Leads State in Calls To Gambling Hotline

CkirbyHitting Rock Bottom – West Virginia and the Problem Gambling Help Line
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