Opinion: Expansion of non-Indian gaming brings social harms

Friday, September 23, 2011  

"Sullivan County, where I live, has long been, and continues to be, Ground Zero for much of the decades-old NY casino debate. The populist chant of "jobs, jobs, jobs" began there long before the 2008 recession took hold. Yet contrary to what proponents of expanding state-sponsored gambling prefer to believe, when it came to the false allure of casinos, many locals recognized the broader hazard of blindly singing with that choir. Long-time County District Attorney Steve Lungen understood it, as did the County's own Division of Planning after conducting its scientific survey of a broad cross-section of registered county voters (the closest thing to a vote on the subject residents have, given that California-style referenda aren't permissible) -- a survey that ranked casinos dead last by a wide margin as a preferred choice for economic development. Even the regional Times Herald Record, not previously known for any bearish casino view, recently came around to acknowledging the realities of casino gambling.

Given all of this, the most important thing we can do as we take up the governor's suggestion is identify the truly central question and its basis. Evidence dictates it's not whether we should expand non-Indian casinos -- or any other kind of house gambling -- because house gambling is already here, but rather, whether our state government should double-down on its endorsement of a business model that exploits and brings harm to its people.

The challenge of putting smoke back into a bottle hardly justifies creating more fire."

Get the Story:
Dave Colavito: Crapping Out in New York (The Huffington Post 9/22)

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Poll shows New Yorkers support expansion of non-Indian gaming (9/21)
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Ray Halbritter: The real story about Indian gaming in New York (9/14)
Expansion of gaming in New York would break Class III compact (9/6)