It isn’t often that I agree with Governor Beverly
Perdue. I think that the last time she
and I agreed was when she thought she should not run for re-election. When we do agree, I usually comment upon
it. This time, Bev Perdue and I agree on
internet sweepstakes operations and casino gambling.
I have long been baffled by the outcry in North Carolina
against video poker machines, casinos, lotteries, and gambling in general. I am not a gambler, myself. I rarely play the lottery, I have only played
a few slot machines and spent only chump change on them, and I have visited one
of those internet sweepstakes places just once while visiting relatives in
Florida. I have been to casinos in The
Bahamas and on cruise ships, but have never done any gambling in them. I would someday like to visit Las Vegas for
the sights, the hotels, the live shows, and just the experience of going to
Vegas. As long as I don’t end up like
the movie “The Hangover”, I might enjoy the place. I grew up in the state with the first modern
state lottery, so it was common place for me.
There were lotteries in the days of George Washington, so they are
nothing new to this country. I was not
opposed to the lottery coming to North Carolina, but I was very opposed to the
underhanded way that it was passed by the state legislature and the false
promises that were made to encourage its passage.
Many people have ethical and/or religious convictions on the
subject of gambling. I have done
research over the years and again even before writing this column. I have yet to find any answers from any
theologian that satisfactorily show me that gambling is inherently immoral or
Biblically prohibited, but I am willing to learn. I am not going to just take someone’s opinion
for it. I want to see it in the Bible
for myself. Every explanation I have
seen thus far is an extrapolation on some conceptual. I take it as a matter of stewardship in that
I am not to waste my (ultimately God’s) money, so I don’t spend a lot on the
activity. Just as the admonition in the
Bible is against drunkenness, not the consumption of alcohol, I see gambling
much the same way.
Perdue was quoted as saying, “I’m opposed to sweepstakes. I want to run them out of the state, but we
have been unable to do that so far. As
long as they are here, we should regulate them, tax the heck out of them and
use the money to fund our schools.” This
is where she and I differ yet agree. I
have no problem with taxing winnings earned at a gaming business. I do have a problem with heavy regulation and
the specious promise of more money for schools.
I don’t think that we underfund schools.
I think we seriously mismanage the tax dollars that we already use to
pay for education. I am also weary of
the old, tired mantra of doing everything “for the children” or “for
education”. It is merely a ploy to play
upon your emotions rather than sensibilities.
I see internet gaming as an expensive video game
proposition. Look, we already have
purchased video game software for our personal computers, a small gaming
console for portable use, and a PlayStation gaming system for the home. I have spent far less on internet sweepstakes
and the lottery than I have ever spent on gaming systems in my lifetime. The difference is that at least with the
sweepstakes parlors, I may walk out with some cash if I win.
Based upon my position on this, you can probably surmise my
take on Governor Perdue’s decision to sign a bill that modifies gambling laws
in North Carolina to allow live dealers at the casino owned by the Eastern Band
of Cherokee Indians. I thought that they
were supposed to be a sovereign nation and could set their own laws. If so, we should respect that and they should
not need North Carolina’s approval, but I am sure there are other
considerations of which I am not aware. The
addition of live dealers will add a lot of jobs to that economically depressed
area, so I am all for it.
When it comes to gambling, I am firmly in favor of personal
freedom and responsibility. I don’t
believe that we need the government getting involved in telling us how we can
spend our money in a free society. I
also believe, on the other hand, that the government should not be bailing you
out because you spent all of your grocery, mortgage, or gas money on a gambling
addiction of your own choosing.
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