Addicted to gambling
Last Friday, my wife and I attended the hearing of the Lottery Commission on the rate proposal for the new line games. Tavern owners came from all corners of the state to testify about how dependent their business is on the income from gambling. But it was not supposed to be that way. The profits from the gaming in their establishments were supposed to be in addition to their normal food and beverage business, which was supposed to be viable on its own.Instead, we heard from tavern owners who claim to be losing money since they agreed to lowered rates on the video poker gaming last year, from those who claim that thousands of jobs will be lost due to the lower rates. We have created an industry that survives only thanks to the public funding in the form of rates that are higher than necessary. We have an industry that is addicted to the revenue from gambling.
In the testimonies of the tavern owners we also heard the stories of folks in rural Oregon who already spend all that they can afford on gambling. The owners argued that the new games would not get them to spend more. It is very sad that because of the lack of courage on the part of our elected officials (starting from our governor), we are forced to depend on people's destructive behavior to finance important public services, from schools, to parks, to the police.
It should not be that way.
posted by Unknown @ 6:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home