One of the hot button issues year in and year out in Ohio is legalized gambling. Casinos and slots have been on the ballot and been turned down several times. I believe that Ohio voters have made the correct decision. I am opposed to gambling on moral grounds and cannot see much good come from it.
WTAM afternoon personality Mike Trivisonno is fond of saying that people don't have a gambling problem, they have a losing problem. In some ways, I have to agree with him. They lose tons of money, they lose self respect, they sometimes lose their families, etc. Not to mention that there are much larger percentages of bankruptcies in counties where there are casinos.
When the Ohio Lottery was launched in 1974, education was to be the main beneficiary of the profits. I have been told by one of my teacher friends that state funding for education has been worse since 1974 because when the state budget was written, there was an estimate as to how much the education allotment would be from the lottery, then that amount was removed from what the state would allocate from the general fund for the schools. Now that we have Mega Millions and those large jackpots, education still doesn't get much. But the lottery commission is quick to tell us how much education has gotten. If the state could match that, maybe it would make a difference. Don't sell us on legalized gambling, tell us it's going to benefit education, then have the schools in such bad shape where they have to continually go to the voters for levies.
Another problem is these big money games bring out the worst in people. Ohio went for quite a long time before we had a major jackpot winner in Mega Millions. The first jackpot winner from the buckeye state won about 165 million. She didn't come forward for several days. What prompted her to come forward was someone seeking to defraud the lottery by saying that she had the winning ticket, but it blew out of her hand in the parking lot of the convenience store which sold the ticket. The person who bought the ticket then came forward and the lottery commission debunked the story of the other lady. But to show you how some people are, she was interviewed on the radio and the host of the show heaped praise on her for what she did. Just goes to show that the love of money is the root of all evil.
Financial guru, Dave Ramsey has said that the lottery is a tax on the poor and those who can't do math. Also the majority of big lottery jackpot winners file bankruptcy within ten years. I guess all the new friends and long lost family members they become associated with cost money.
And if people don't have gambling problems, why is there Gamblers Anonymous?
WTAM afternoon personality Mike Trivisonno is fond of saying that people don't have a gambling problem, they have a losing problem. In some ways, I have to agree with him. They lose tons of money, they lose self respect, they sometimes lose their families, etc. Not to mention that there are much larger percentages of bankruptcies in counties where there are casinos.
When the Ohio Lottery was launched in 1974, education was to be the main beneficiary of the profits. I have been told by one of my teacher friends that state funding for education has been worse since 1974 because when the state budget was written, there was an estimate as to how much the education allotment would be from the lottery, then that amount was removed from what the state would allocate from the general fund for the schools. Now that we have Mega Millions and those large jackpots, education still doesn't get much. But the lottery commission is quick to tell us how much education has gotten. If the state could match that, maybe it would make a difference. Don't sell us on legalized gambling, tell us it's going to benefit education, then have the schools in such bad shape where they have to continually go to the voters for levies.
Another problem is these big money games bring out the worst in people. Ohio went for quite a long time before we had a major jackpot winner in Mega Millions. The first jackpot winner from the buckeye state won about 165 million. She didn't come forward for several days. What prompted her to come forward was someone seeking to defraud the lottery by saying that she had the winning ticket, but it blew out of her hand in the parking lot of the convenience store which sold the ticket. The person who bought the ticket then came forward and the lottery commission debunked the story of the other lady. But to show you how some people are, she was interviewed on the radio and the host of the show heaped praise on her for what she did. Just goes to show that the love of money is the root of all evil.
Financial guru, Dave Ramsey has said that the lottery is a tax on the poor and those who can't do math. Also the majority of big lottery jackpot winners file bankruptcy within ten years. I guess all the new friends and long lost family members they become associated with cost money.
And if people don't have gambling problems, why is there Gamblers Anonymous?
Comments
And there surely are better ways to bring some needed revenue into the state than gambling.