Georgia lawmakers claim they are seriously weighing the pros and cons of bringing casino gambling to our state. But based on recent one-sided hearings, it seems they are already dazzled by the lure of fast money, glitzy new developments and potential tourism.
There was no testimony about the harsh realities of casino gambling, including how it has changed lives for the worse, spiked crime and impacted employment rates in other states. Georgia legislators should take off their sunglasses and look at the facts.
In the 2006 book “Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits,” definitive academic analyses concluded that taxpayer costs of legalized gambling activities were at least $3 for every $1 in new tax revenues to states.
As indicated in the 2015 Congressional Hearing on Gambling, revenue amounts to individual states have continued to decline, as gambling lobbyists have subtly manipulated tax concessions for gambling interests.
Historically, it should be noted that 80 percent of the U.S. Congress, including Georgia’s delegation, supported establishing the bipartisan National Gambling Impact Study Commission. It called for a moratorium on U.S. gambling expansion. The U.S. Gambling Commission even called for the re-criminalization of electronic gambling machines at convenience stores, such as those just authorized by the Georgia Lottery, and extensive restrictions on lotteries.
These congressional recommendations have been largely ignored by the Georgia Lottery, Gov. Nathan Deal and the General Assembly.
Per a definitive decade-long study published by Harvard and MIT, crime increases approximately 10 percent annually around new gambling facilities with electronic gambling machines, as gamblers lose their resources and resort to crime.
As documented by an Emory University Law School article, bankruptcies increase 18 to 42 percent due to new gambling facilities, as gamblers lose their resources.
The numbers of newly addicted gamblers (similar to drug addicts) and problem gamblers double within the “feeder markets” of new gambling facilities.
Each slot machine or electronic gambling machine costs one job per year every year out of the consumer economy due to lost consumer spending as people lose money into the machines.
Non-gambling businesses shun areas with gambling facilities, just like consumer businesses, employees, and customers shun high-crime areas.
In one study, people around gambling facilities were spending 10 percent less on food and 25 percent less on clothing, while 37 percent had raided their banking accounts to lose to slot machines.
As indicated in a Mercer Law Review article, even gamblers should insist on legislative hearings under oath to determine how the electronic games are programmed and whether the astronomical odds and “near misses” are “fair” to gamblers. Consumer protection laws need to be utilized to examine electronic gambling machines.
Georgia’s Republican Majority shunned the idea of gambling and casinos when it was the minority party. Now it seems to be headed the way of Illinois, New Jersey and other states where many regret bringing casinos to their citizens. Governments and their citizens cannot gamble themselves to prosperity.
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