"Like a gambling addict certain that his luck will turn on the next roll of the dice, New York State is betting that vastly expanding gambling at the Aqueduct in Queens is part of the answer to the budget deficit. The state’s overly generous revenue projection is based on the hope that bidders will pay $250 million for development rights from the state-owned racetrack, and with it, the right to add 4,500 video slot machines that would provide the state a worry-free revenue stream.

It is never that simple. Video lottery terminals are similar to slot machines except for a few details that, taken together, provide enough of a fig leaf to make the machines legal under the state Constitution. They are addicting all the same to a minority of players who too often experience a variety of social ills.

Gambling is an awful way to fill a hole in the budget. There are already more than 12,000 video lottery terminals in eight facilities across New York. No matter how much the state rakes in from gambling, it never seems to prevent budget deficits. This year is no different. The state would be better off finding a source of revenue that doesn’t prey upon its own people.

Get the Story:
Editorial: Gambling Is Never Enough (The New York Times 5/10)
pwnyt