Gambling with Patton
George S. Patton once said "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." What is true about war is also true about gambling.
Recently, Pennsylvania legalized gambling, and after contraversy, a site was chosen in Western Pennsylvania for a casino. The most important issue was never brought up: gambling takes discretionary income away from consumers. If your main source of gamblers are locals, you will depress your local economy; if your main source of gamblers are from distant places, you will build your local economy. Simply put, that is how Indian Reservations, Vegas and, to a lesser extent, Atlantic City, keep ahead.
Here is what Pennsylvania should have done: instead of debating this for a decade, it should have been passed 10 years ago, with slots placed in airports in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Had this been done, the Pittsburgh Airport Authority could have charged USAir less and kept a hub in Pittsburgh. The millions of passengers making connections thru PIT would have been marks for the games of chance, generating income from non-Pennsylvanians. Pennsylvania would have had a net positive cash flow. Later, a few machines could have been placed in train and bus terminals and in some hotels, where somewhat easier access would be available for locals, but still the focus would have been visitors.
Instead, we will have more dumb Pennsylvania bastards going broke. On the way over to the Science Center on the North Side to teach their children about science, parents will detour to demonstrate the laws of mathematics and probability by losing their childrens' lunch money to one-armed bullies; others will stop in after drinking a few Ahrns at a Stillers game and will lose their paychecks.
The republicans, morally opposed to sin, have caved in to public pressure for freedom. The democrats, always looking for more money for government coffers and more people dependent upon them, have a win/win. As usual, no one actually is looking out for us.
Recently, Pennsylvania legalized gambling, and after contraversy, a site was chosen in Western Pennsylvania for a casino. The most important issue was never brought up: gambling takes discretionary income away from consumers. If your main source of gamblers are locals, you will depress your local economy; if your main source of gamblers are from distant places, you will build your local economy. Simply put, that is how Indian Reservations, Vegas and, to a lesser extent, Atlantic City, keep ahead.
Here is what Pennsylvania should have done: instead of debating this for a decade, it should have been passed 10 years ago, with slots placed in airports in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Had this been done, the Pittsburgh Airport Authority could have charged USAir less and kept a hub in Pittsburgh. The millions of passengers making connections thru PIT would have been marks for the games of chance, generating income from non-Pennsylvanians. Pennsylvania would have had a net positive cash flow. Later, a few machines could have been placed in train and bus terminals and in some hotels, where somewhat easier access would be available for locals, but still the focus would have been visitors.
Instead, we will have more dumb Pennsylvania bastards going broke. On the way over to the Science Center on the North Side to teach their children about science, parents will detour to demonstrate the laws of mathematics and probability by losing their childrens' lunch money to one-armed bullies; others will stop in after drinking a few Ahrns at a Stillers game and will lose their paychecks.
The republicans, morally opposed to sin, have caved in to public pressure for freedom. The democrats, always looking for more money for government coffers and more people dependent upon them, have a win/win. As usual, no one actually is looking out for us.
posted by DocBrain at
2:52 AM
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