2449 The House Always Wins

St. Casserole is a pastor who lives in the Katrina devastated area. But 11 years ago, the area witnessed a different kind of devastation.

"Eleven years ago, our poor area welcomed dockside gambling. Dockside means that the casinos perched on barges on our Coastline with their hotels on land nearby.

Overnight, people got jobs, health care and benefits. Auxiliary businesses flourished. Things got better.

What didn't get better at the beginning and what isn't better now is the White Elephant We Don't Discuss.

MawMaw and PawPaw flooded into the casinos to spend the day playing slots, black jack and etc. Young people got good-paying jobs without needing an education. People who can't control gambling lost homes, families and themselves. People bragged about winnings, didn't mention losses. No one remembers as they gamble that the House always wins." St. Casserole

Ohio has had a state lottery for 30 years. I think the "profit" was designated for education about 20 years ago. We don't talk about our "white elephant" either. Has anyone seen an improvement in Ohio's education system? What about our taxes? Has anyone seen a reduction in our property taxes? Our state government? Wasn't Gov. Taft voted #50 out of 50? So we're both stealing from and addicting people AND taking more taxes from them. It is an unbelievably slick scam. Apparently, our representatives are just horn swaggled and helpless. I doubt that anyone opposing the lottery could even get elected. People are desperate to believe in something for nothing.

I remember 30 years ago there were some Ohio church coalitions that pointed out the damage to poor people, but they lost. It was a bit short sighted on their part to see this only as a problem for the poor. And that was before internet gambling and the more recent gambling glamorization on cable TV. Then there was a church coalition that tried to stop Ohio from joining that multi-state lottery, and that flopped. I don't think the issue ever even came up at our church.

When Mississippi and Louisiana turned to off-shore gambling to fill up their state coffers instead of building a strong infrastructure, they became no different than Mexico relying on money being sent home by poor people to fill the shops and restaurants of that country on the labor of the poor immigrants.

I assume all those wrecked casinos are eligible for my tax dollars to rebuild.