Comments about ‘Legalizing gambling can come with high social costs’

Mitt and his BFF Sheldon disagree.

California's liberal leaders thought it might be a good idea to borrow against future lottery revenue earnings to pay yesterday's bills. Someone with a head on his shoulders vetoed that idea.

Children suffer when their uneducated parent(s) decide to spend money they don't have gambling, lose it all, and then blame the Republicans because they can't afford to feed their kids. Of course states that have legalized gambling love it. They risk nothing and reap the taxes gambling brings in.

Nice try. Another installment in the series 'articles on why everything the church says you can't do is bad, so don't feel like you're being imposed upon'.

If we can't have gambling, can we at least have high point domestic Beers?

I don't get this article. Is somebody proposing that we allow gambling or casinos in Utah? It would be nice, however, to keep some of that money people spend and lose just across the border to the west of us.

This article is very helpful in bringing up the very nasty social problem of gambling. Ironically, even though there is a general notion of gambling = bad in this state, people from Utah are actually less aware of the visible social ills since it is illegal and it takes more effort to go to a casino. If you have lived in states where gambling is legal in certain areas, you commonly find horribly blighted areas surrounding monstrous casinos. Look at the fruits of what casinos accomplish besides the obvious providing of jobs for some and a place to go on the weekend to have a good time and blow some cash. Weight that against the addiction, crime, blight, bankruptcy, divorce and then make a judgment on the merits. States were looking for quick budget fixes and have now been burned badly. The fact that this article appears in the DN does not make the evidence any less meaningful.

Whenever I look at slot machines I just laugh out loud now because all I see is rats in a skinner box:)

Gambling is a money pit. The casinos do NOT stay in business by losing money. The odds are in the house's favor. Some win but more lose. Gambling is a business, with profit margins, marketing, sales, etc. It appeals to one of the baser of human weaknesses, the desire to get something for nothing.

I know that Utah avoids gambling because of the realization of the pofwers that be that it is a bad idea. Former governor Leavitt said that gsmbling cannibalizes the economy. Why does Hawaii avoid gambling?

The bumper sticker is true. Gambling is a tax on people who are bad at math.

My uncle was an astute businessman and able to count cards. He advised me never to gamble. And, that if I were to want to participate in gambling, I should be the house (the one conducting the game) and not the gambler.

Also, like many vices, gambling has significant externalities - costs that are not fully recognized or paid for at the time of "sale". The wider community ends up absorbing these in the form of broken homes, impoverished families, and addicted citizens. Hence, gambling should be significantly taxed in order to reimburse the community.

With a few exceptions it is the poor and middle class that gamble. You don't see the wealthy putting their money in one armed bandits. I am against gambling. I have gambled myself on a limited basis. Regret it. It is to easy to see gamblilng as a way out of financial problems. The problem is when you win big the temptation is keep going and you end up with nothing. You are better off investing your money for the long term than gamblilng it away.

Gambling is real dumb and alcohol is worse as the most dangerous drug we have. Even marijuana thought to be fairly safe inhibits children and teen's intelligence levels. Our state is doing fine with gambling and if you want to play poker get a group together.

If someone wants to do a little research they will find out that the states that have it aren't exactly pleased with it.

They tend to spend almost as much as they take in administering the gambling.

Its odd to me to see some people complain about the plight of the middle class and poor people then turn around and want to legalize state run gambling.

As already pointed out; all gambling really is is another tax on those who can't afford it.

Gambling money in Ohio was supposed to "save" the schools. Yeah.

That was back in the 70's or 80's and I don't think anyone has yet figured out where all the money really goes. But it sure wasn't to the schools.

Watched my brother-in=law gamble away his pay check, go home and fight with his wife who wanted rent and food money. Watched his family live in poverty when he made twice my wage. This is not uncommon. Like any other vice it takes its greatest toll on the family.

That's true, but only if you look at the relevant facts.

Here in Washington State, a couple of decades ago, the citizens voted to allow a state lottery which promised to finance education. What a great blessing that has been. Each year the schools now send out letters to the parents on all of the extra supplies they need to send their children to school with --- supplies that were once paid for by the state; before gambling was legalized. The rumor is - it was never specified how much money from the gambling would have to go towards eduction.

There is a casino in our area. They have a VIP parking lot. According to my information, to be eligible to park in these special zone, (and that part of the lot is always full) you have to spend more each month in the casino than most people I know make in a year. To some it may be a form of recreation, but so are picnics, fishing and a nice Sunday drive as a family.

Burning fossil fuels has negative effects. Republicans even agreed for a few years untill the Koch brothers started paying them to disagree.

So why is gambling different than modifying the weather with CO2 emmisions? You don't even have 99% of psycologists agreeing that gambling is bad for society.

Freedom, take your canned enviro-baloney elsewhere. This thread is about gambling.
I for one, consider it very dangerous to allow even one step toward this slippery slope. It would come to no good. I also consider the proprietors of such establishments to be among the lowest forms of life--sucking the lifeblood out of those in society that are the easiest to take advantage of. They should all be taken out to the wood shed.

gambling -- best defined as a tax paid by people who flunked math in high school.