Seniors are among the fastest-growing groups of problem gamblers in America. Being unable to make up their losses after retirement, senior citizens often plunge themselves farther and farther into debt, gambling away their retirement savings for which they worked their whole lives. This report from AlterNet details the effects of problem gambling on seniors.
Regional Casinos
Report shows staggering costs of problem gambling
This report, by The Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission, estimates the cost of problem gambling to be as high as $2.8 billion in Victoria, Australia. Excess gambling by problem gamblers accounts for up to $1.4 billion of this, with the rest coming from the intangible costs for problem gamblers’ mental health and familial stability. This article by The Age summarizes the report’s findings.
2013 Cost of problem gambling could be as high as $2.8b- report
Tax break for Atlantic City casinos means more struggles for the city
According to this article by NorthJersey.com, Atlantic City may have to take on an additional tax burden after casinos in the city won a large property tax reduction in court. The reduction is due to declining property values of casinos because of the casino industry’s overall downward spiral in recent years. The city will now have to cope with the loss of serious tax revenue in addition to its long-term financial struggles.
Atlantic City’s severe hardships continue despite plunging millions into casinos
Atlantic City is known for its many casinos and for being, essentially, the Las Vegas of the east coast. The many casinos were brought into Atlantic City under the pretense that they would help the city out of its financial hole. However, even decades after Atlantic City legalized casino gambling and spent millions on the casino industry, according to this article by the USA Today, the city continues to struggle.
Even the most lucrative of casinos cannot save its surrounding city
The Resorts World Casino is located in Queens, New York, and is known as the country’s #1 top grossing casino, reaping huge profits for the casino owners. However, if you take a look at the surrounding city and its residents, you will see that these immense profits have yet to rescue this city from its poverty, contrary to the promises upon which it was built. This article by The New York Times explains this situation and shows that, although casinos are often built with the promise of economic revitalization, even the richest of casinos don’t send the necessary help that the surrounding communities desperately need.
Casinos are no help for Detroit’s financial ruin
This in-depth report by the Detroit Free Press chronicles the downfall of one of America’s great cities and explores the many reasons behind the city’s financial collapse. Though originally heralded as a possible savior for the city, casino gambling became just another factor in the downfall of Detroit. Gambling, and the tax increases that often went along with it, were one of the factors the article identifies as contributing to Detroit’s decline.
20 years after casinos opened in Gary, Indiana the city still struggles
Since the decline of the steel industry, Gary, Indiana has been a city struggling to keep up. Twenty years ago, Gary opened its first casinos, spirits buoyed by the casino industry’s lofty promises of economic development and help for cities in need. Now, after two decades of casino gambling and two decades of struggles in Gary, lawmakers are beginning to see that those promises have not panned out.
Gambling interests spend big bucks on NY lawmakers
According to a report by the Common Cause NY, gambling interests have spared no expense courting New York lawmakers, spending $20 million over the past 2 years on lobbying and campaign contributions for various offices, including almost a quarter a million dollars to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s campaign. The spending comes on the heels of Cuomo’s announcement that New York will be looking to expand casino gambling in the state. This article, by Newsday, summarizes the developments quite well.
2013 Gambling interests spent $20 million on NY lawmakers in 2 years, Common Cause finds
Gambling winnings, even when offset by losses, cost seniors more than you would think
This article, from The Wall Street Journal‘s “Market Watch”, shows how gambling winnings can cost seniors dearly when tax day comes. Even if they are balanced out by losses of the same amount, certain tax rates can skyrocket, leaving seniors to pay extra. Using a real example, the author shows just how much gambling can cost.
Casino-owning tribes still subsidized by US government while financial backers see immense profits
Casinos were supposed to generate billions of dollars of revenue for Native American tribes, allowing them to be independent of taxpayer-funded federal subsidies. However, while their financial backers reap heavy profits, the casino tribes have yet to see the revenue they need and are thus still reliant on money from the US government. This article, by the Niagara Gazette, documents one tribe’s struggle to gain the profits the casino was built to raise.
2013 Casino-owning tribes betting on help from the US government