Opinion: More and more states see gaming as revenue boost

A number of states — 23 at last count — have turned to gambling as a source of revenue, essentially forming joint ventures with gaming companies to squeeze some public benefit out of a common vice. This source of government funding has the added benefit of being voluntary. No one is forced to go to a riverboat casino or to play the racetrack slots.

For a public policy innovation this large, the casino-government complex has received little scrutiny, which a new report by the Institute for American Values, “Why Casinos Matter,” seeks to remedy. It is a crash course in the political and social hazards of funding public purposes through the exploitation of human weakness.

Modern gaming is different from the traditional image of destination resorts with swimming pools and showgirls. Now casinos are geographically distributed — often purposely located in communities desperate for development. They depend on commuters instead of vacationers — people who come in a few times a month, or a few times a week. Their target market is the middle and working class.