DailySusan Humor Blog

GAMBLING WRAPUP: FROM ALL CORNERS, ‘’CASI-NO!!!’’
(Last in a special series on gambling this week. Please forward this story and direct people to www.DailySusan.blogspot.com for more. Thanks!)

Let your fellow readers sum up the case against the expanded gambling proposals on the Nebraska ballot this Tuesday.

A receptionist: ‘’I was married to a gambler for 22 years. He drained me and our five children both financially and emotionally. He would steal babysitting money and cash the kids would earn from their jobs. I had my own checking account to protect some of my own money. Makes sense to the normal thinking person but to the gambler it's just a small hurdle (which they seem to thrive on) to sneak around. I am praying my guts out for the safety of the families in Nebraska. Bookies don't like it when you owe money.

‘’I remember a call one evening, when my ex-husband was out ‘seeing a man about a dog,’ and a bookie told me I better start walking my kids to school and checking my brakes before going down a hill. I acted very respectful and scared. I assured him I would have Mike call him back and I would even make sure the money would get mailed to him, if he would just give me his name and address. I would take care of it immediately. He complied. Then I told him if he ever called, drove by, looked at me or my children I would turn him in to the FBI. Never heard form him again.

‘’PRAISE GOD!! I was terrified but God gave me the strength I needed at the time to face Satan and his band of evildoers. The casinos are truly a plan devised in hell. ‘Satan is out to kill, steal and destroy.’ If that's the goal, what better way?’’

An economics professor: The average cost per year to taxpayers of just one addicted gambler is between $14,006 and $22,077. Note: that’s in addition to his or her gambling losses. The costs add up in unemployment compensation, bad debts, theft, civil court procedure costs, criminal justice costs, welfare, treatment, and many more. (Source: economics professor Earl Grinols, University of Illinois, December 2001 report, quoted in ‘’Gambling: 2004 Nebraska ballot,’’ by Chad Hills, posted online last week at www.family.org/cforum/fosi/gambling/gitus/a0034036.cfm)

An advocate for the poor and racial minorities: According to a study of gamblers in Michigan, the average lottery player there spent $313 a year on lottery tickets. But those with an income of less than $10,000 a year spent far more -- an average of $597. African-Americans spent an average of $998 per year, vs. a $210 yearly average by whites. More than half the lottery tickets were bought by 5 percent of the players, obvious evidence of compulsion. And high-school dropouts spent four times as much as college graduates, reflecting the fact that people who have the least amount of money to lose are the ones losing the most. (See the June 3, 2002, article, “State Lotteries Vs. Truth-in-Advertising’’ on www.mackinac.org/article.asp?ID=4379)

A taxpayer: “Gambling is horribly bad public policy. Talk about an enormous, unproductive waste of money. Talk about giant sucking sounds . . . that’s our money, LEAVING the state, if we expand gambling here. Now, it’s Homecoming season across the land. Instead of turning Nebraska into a no-frills version of Las Vegas, why don’t we just pile up all our money and make bonfires out of it? It’d take a lot less time and money, and it’d be more entertaining, as far as I’m concerned.’’

A teacher: ‘’Take it from someone who lived in Las Vegas . . . taught there . . . taught special ed there . . . you cannot imagine the impact the gaming industry has on every single aspect of the lives that live around it. I can tell you horror stories about the kids I worked with and the ways it ruined their lives and their families’ lives.’’

From Connecticut: ‘’We have two casinos here in Connecticut. One of them is the largest in the WORLD. Because they are owned by Native Americans, they don't have to pay any taxes. Several years ago they VOLUNTEERED to give the state 10% of only the slots. I'm sure it is a lot of money, but I have no idea where it goes, or the exact amount. It certainly hasn't helped our economy to any great extent, since we are about the highest taxed state, but it's ruined a lot of lives.’’

From Arizona: ‘’Some of our Arizona gambling money goes to Parks and Recreation, wildlife preservation and school programs, but our schools are still overfunded where administration is concerned and underfunded where the buildings and the kids are concerned. Most of the money goes to Indian tribes and especially casino conglomerates.’’

A counselor: ‘’I had a counselee with an important position in a mega-company here in Omaha. He has taken the tuition money that the business gave him to get his master’s degree, and played it all away at the boats on his lunch hour. Sometimes he gets out of bed super early and goes over before work to try to win some back. He and his wife came for counseling. We met a few times, but when it came time to take the tough love stance, she heard Satan's words come out of her husband's mouth: ‘It's not a habit . . . it's not even that much money . . . if he works overtime, he can make up the difference.’ When he leaves his wife and two precious little ones at o'dark early, her denial kicks in and explains he is ‘working so hard for his family.’ So not only is Satan winning the battle for HIS mind, but for hers as well.

‘’They'll (or at least she’ll) be back begging for help now that things have gotten SO bad that the house is being foreclosed, the car is being repossessed, and he has no grades to turn in to prove he was taking classes. It is just a matter of time before it costs him his job. And the story goes on and on and on all over this country. And people who think it is harmless fun to gamble the rent money refuse to look at the facts.’’

Or do they?

We’ll find out Tuesday night, when election returns are in.

Will it be ‘’ching ching ching’’ for Nevada gambling interests? Or will the voices like the ones in these stories prevail, and keep casinos and slots out of the state?

I hope it’s the latter. But whatever the outcome, thanks for following this series, and passing these stories on to others. When people are willing to listen, the ‘’house’’ -- in this case, our state -- will win.

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Susan Darst Williams, www.DailySusan.blogspot.com, is a writer, wife and mother of four who lives at the base of Mount Laundry, Nebraska. She is writing this series for www.gamblingwiththegoodlife.com as a public service.

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Prayer request: We lift up the faithfulness and hard work of Gambling With the Good Life’s volunteer leader and spearhead, Pat Loontjer. What a mighty work You have done through her, Father. How she has glorified You and Your principles for living. Bless Your servant with victory on Tuesday, and show people that the REAL “good life’’ is that which aligns with You. (1 John 2:15-17)