Country Crossing rally brings stars to Dothan

Good job, statistics and information to back up your arguments, now that is what I call a debate.  Great job people, some of you are starting to research, think, and define a logical argument.  But some of the rest of you need to do some catching-up.

The other day I posted an economic argument against any type of gambling in our area but I have yet to see the pro-gambling side present any evidence at all that it is good for the economy other than they say it is so - so it must be true. 

Many of the pro-gambling studies are riddled with inaccuracies and unfinished thought process and paid for not by unbiased entities but by marketing companies and lobbies hired by the gambling industry. 

If you look logically at any state lottery, you will find they spend absolutely millions on advertising jackpots and money people have won.  Why?  Because it does not create the wealth that they initially promised, in fact it continually dwindles after the first year or two and then advertisement cost start to sky rocket. 

How long will it be until Bingo isn’t enough and we need to add gaming tables or some other new enticement?

I’ll say it again, my argument is purely economic and I’m still waiting for the other side to show where I’m wrong in my economic argument.

You may see my earlier post below in previous comments that someone posted.

Thanks for your time,
DrT

Thanks for the invite hutch737,  I’ll have to turn you down though.  I don’t gamble or go to rallys that try to promote it.  My life is better since I’ve cleaned it up years ago thanks to God.  I’m much happier and stress free now without all that baggage.  I accept though if the gambling wasn’t part of the goods being sold to us.

Toobad, do you also believe that “you” should protect us from other things such as drinking? You seem to be our self-designated Moral Compass here. Maybe we should take your advice and take a page from post-communist Russia and ban gambling. Maybe we’ll just ban all things we don’t agree with. Things like drinking, gambling, Mormons, Baptists, Hooter’s, Flying J’s. You get the picture. To quote someone who “knows what we should do with our money” more than we do is just stupid. As for no money going to schools, that’s just incorrect. Tax revenue will come into the county, where it is distributed, yes…..drumroll….. to schools as well as other areas within the county. The Wiregrass United Way also stands to gain millions per year in revenue as well. One thing that Country Crossing IS NOT, is a casino. It is a Bingo operation where players play against each other, NOT THE HOUSE. Milton McGregor’s operation at Victoryland however plays against the house, with Milton pocketing millions per year. Will Ronnie Gilley Properties make money? Of course. They are using the revenue to fund building the entertainment portion of Country Crossing. Try getting a loan for 10 million dollars in today’s economy and see how far you get. The reality of the situation is that people living in Houston County, Alabama travel daily to Florida and Georgia to buy lotto tickets. They drive to Mississippi and play in real Casinos. These people are not criminals or drug users. They work, they pay taxes, they may even go to church. But whoever they are, they have the right to spend their money as they see fit, without interference from people who want to spend it for them or forcibly take it from them.

Hate to Cut and paste but since you can’t go to the link I put on here earlier this is for you GURU,

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Congress should resurrect the nationwide gambling ban that existed through most of the 20th century to help soothe a fragile U.S. economy shaken by the worst credit and financial crisis in decades, a University of Illinois professor and national gambling critic says.

John W. Kindt argues that gambling is a multi-billion dollar drag on the economy, not the moneymaking boost touted by supporters. Cash merely changes hands from bettors to casino owners, he says, creating no products or anything else of value.

If the estimated $100 billion now spent annually on gambling – mostly slot machines – went into consumer spending instead, economic models show it would generate more than $300 billion for the nation’s slumping economy and create jobs and services, said Kindt, a professor of business and legal policy. He says Congress should also repeal more than $40 billion in tax write-offs for slot machine owners.

A ban also would save hundreds of billions in costs to society stemming from gambling addictions, bankruptcies and crime that studies show increases when casinos open, he said.

“No. 1, a ban would pump prime the economy,” Kindt said. “No. 2, it would lower pressure on taxes because you wouldn’t have as many new addicted gamblers, bankruptcies and crime. So you’re eliminating substantial social costs, you’re improving quality of life overall and as John F. Kennedy said, ‘a rising tide lifts all boats.’ ”

A ban would not solve the lingering economic turmoil that has left the nation teetering on the brink of recession, said Kindt, who has studied gambling since Illinois first allowed riverboat casinos nearly two decades ago.

“But it’s a step in the right direction and would halt the spread of gambling that is destabilizing world economies and financial markets,” he said.

“It also would send good economic signals to less stable countries that they can’t gamble their way to prosperity.”

Kindt said Russia re-criminalized 2,230 casinos and slot machine facilities in 2007.

“What do the Russians know that the U.S. hasn’t figured out?” he said.

Kindt says gambling has spawned a potentially dangerous speculative bubble in international financial markets as decades of industry growth have created exaggerated expectations that far outstrip real value. If the bubble bursts, he says, the ripple effect on the U.S. economy could rival the subprime mortgage crisis that sparked the nation’s latest economic woes.

“In the subprime crisis, at least you had some real estate in assets,” Kindt said. “What assets do you have with gambling? Slot machines? Gambling is built on sand. There’s nothing there. It isn’t built on rock.”

Markets outside the U.S. have already seen the potential consequences, he said. A Gibraltar-based gaming company saw its London Stock Exchange value plunge from $10 billion to $2.4 billion in one day after the U.S. voted to increase sanctions on Internet gambling in 2006.

“It’s fun and games,” Kindt said of the gambling industry. “The question is do you want fun and games, addicted gamblers, bankruptcy and crime or do you want economic development and international financial stability?”

While states routinely turn to gambling as a quick, short-term fix for revenue shortfalls, Kindt says history shows betting isn’t the answer. He said President Franklin D. Roosevelt used jobs programs and other initiatives – not gambling – to pull the nation out of the deepest depression in modern times.

“The point is you didn’t see FDR and you won’t see the federal government saying that gambling will save us,” Kindt said. “It’s just the opposite.”

He says the 1999 U.S. National Gambling Impact Study Commission called for a moratorium on the expansion of any type of gambling anywhere, but the move failed in the face of opposition by the gambling industry’s powerful lobby.

But he says gambling critics hope their odds improve based on talk during this year’s presidential campaign to limit the influence of special interests in Washington.

“If people really want to take risks, they should take educated risks as entrepreneurs or with the stock market,” Kindt said. “They also should ask if slot machines are ‘fair.’

http://news.illinois.edu/NEWS/08/0923gambling.html

Grow up Guru if that is possible, don’t call me a racist.  Bad economic policy effect us all no matter what background or side of the tracks we come from.  The difference between me and you is that I believe hard work gets you ahead in life and the American dream; you on the other hand think it comes from a lottery ticket or slot machine which takes money from many losers to give to just a few winners.  That is not the American Dream that successful people talk about when you speak to people who have done well in our nation. 
Even Gilley didn’t get rich from playing the lottery or Casinos, he’s smarter than that, he’s going to get rich by being the House and when you lose your money will go straight into his pocket with just a meager going to a local VFW.