I’ve watched this movie before: “Casino Gambling is Good for the State”.
I lived in NJ when casino gambling came to Atlantic City. I’m shocked as I watch issue after issue coming to Texas that first came to NJ, in pretty much the same fashion and using the same arguments. Casino operators had tried to get the question on the ballot in NJ and were unable to do so for a long time.
Finally, the legislature voted to put the question on the ballot. With so much pro-gambling advertising money pouring into the state, opponents couldn’t begin to compete on a level advertising field. It passed.
The sales pitch:
- Casinos would be limited in location. (Sound familiar, Texans?)
- No slot machines throughout the state. (Sound familiar, Texans?)
- A percentage of the proceeds would go to seniors and the disabled (https://www.nj.gov/casinorevenue/funded/). (Sound familiar, Texans?)
- Jobs would be created. (Sound familiar, Texans?)
- The public should have a right to vote on the issue. (Sound familiar, Texans?)
- Surrounding areas would benefit from a positive economic impact. (Sound familiar, Texans?)
- Funds would be made available for those who suffer addiction (alcohol, gambling, etc). (Sound familiar, Texans?)
- A Casino Revenue Fund Commission would be created. More government bureaucracy. Someone has to determine how much of the revenue should go where. (Sound familiar, Texans?)
- A Casino Control Commission would be created. More government bureaucracy. Someone has to determine which companies get permits. The 2023 cost of that commission is nearly $8 MILLION dollars: $7,957,000. (https://www.nj.gov/casinos/about/budget/)(Sound familiar, Texans?)
Today, Atlantic City NJ is just as poor and crime ridden as it was before casino gambling. It’s not a place you’d take your family for vacation, in spite of being along the Jersey Shore. Many casinos are run down. What saves AC? Government conferences like the NJ Conference of Mayors and the NJ League of Municipalities (think Texas Municipal League). There isn’t anywhere else in the state for large conferences with sufficient hotel space. That’s not the case in Texas so when the casinos fail, conferences will go elsewhere.
Notwithstanding these government commissions allegedly running everything in Atlantic City, corruption runs rampant. https://newjerseyglobe.com/local/4-of-last-7-atlantic-city-mayors-faced-criminal-charges/ Prostitution runs rampant. Right off the boardwalk, drugs of any and all kinds are available. But, I’d caution you about going there, walking there, at night. It’s just not safe.
Search “Atlantic City drug raids” and you’ll see. Here are some examples:
- 2022: https://breakingac.com/2022/11/16-arrested-in-atlantic-city-drug-trafficking-ring-400k-in-drugs-taken-off-streets/
- 2021: https://www.phillyvoice.com/atlantic-county-drug-bust-new-jersey-desmond-tally-homicide/
- 2020: https://breakingac.com/2020/12/five-arrested-gun-and-drugs-seized-in-atlantic-city-raid/
And, then there’s the gun violence: https://247wallst.com/city/atlantic-city-nj-reported-one-of-the-highest-murder-rates-in-the-us/
So, our Texas elected officials are trying to stop 18 year olds from legally purchasing rifles, but they want to bring gambling here with all its vices and dangers.
My mother always said “If your friend stuck her head in a sewer, would you do it too?” I hear her saying that every time I hear a legislator say Texas has to have casinos because our neighboring states do.
Texans: Just because they stuck their heads in the gambling sewer, should we do so too? Because I’ve seen this movie before, I say “no”.