Is a gambling a good solution for state revenue?

[AlexAmore]

I just saw a story all about this regarding state casinos. Basically these liberals were all up in arms because of the minority of people who get addicted to it.

I personally think it has some positive qualities to it:

1. It's a voluntary contribution to government
2. It's no different than the lottery.
3. It's entertaining.

Now the problem is it brings up the question "what about private casinos?". I still think they have a place and what it would do is bring competition. Of course we know government hates competition so this will be tricky.

One interesting note is that liberals are all up in arms because this will bring in a majority of the revenue from poor people while rich people are left unscathed. I think this is not a problem at all. If this was one of the only source of income for the government then our economy would boom so enormously that poor people could now afford another car to their fleet of two and another tv on top of their 2 tvs and Xbox. lol sorry.

But seriously the economy would boom, people would have money to go gambling and have fun. Everyone wins.

Anybody see faults with this?

 

[brandon]

Yea I like gambling sometimes and I would like to have market forces continuously improving my odds and my experience.

 

[specsaregood]

Philosophically, no problem with it.
But in reality, my understanding is that bankruptcy rates almost always skyrocket in areas when it is legalized.

 

[dannno]

Philosophically, no problem with it.

Agreed, people should be able to gamble without govt. restriction.

But in reality, my understanding is that bankruptcy rates almost always skyrocket in areas when it is legalized.

Eh, on the other hand some people won money. In the end, the casinos end up making money. What service do they provide? Entertainment. They don't make food, energy, houses, they don't make anything that people really need (not that I have a right to tell people what they "need").. but the point is that it doesn't increase production, it actually cuts into production because it increases the amount people spend to support the casinos.

So I don't think legalizing gambling is going to help the economy or help increase govt. revenue, because it will ultimately reduce the amount of money people have to spend on other things which would also be taxed to some extent. And maybe you're right and it will end up driving people further into debt.

The real solution would be cutting government spending AND legalizing gambling.

 

[hillbilly123069]

What else does gambling bring other than tax money from the casino's? I think the answer is no.

 

[specsaregood]

Eh, on the other hand some people won money. In the end, the casinos end up making money. What service do they provide? Entertainment. They don't make food, they don't make houses, they don't make anything that people really need (not that I have a right to tell people what they "need").. but the point is that it doesn't increase production, it actually cuts into production because it increases the amount people then spend to support the casinos. .

But on yet another hand, with a welfare state in place, there is a good chance many of those people that declare bankruptcy will end up getting some form of public support. Requiring the govt to steal more from those not going bankrupt.

Of course, the sudden rise in bankruptcies after legalization could also be partly due to it suddenly being legalized rather than having always been legal.

 

[bwlibertyman]

I don't think that casinos are private businesses. It would be different if there were a bunch of "indiana casinos" but there aren't. These are private businesses that have to give a ton of money to the government. What's to stop the government from saying that profits from housing companies will be used to fund the government? I don't like it.

 

[-C-]

Using Vegas as a model, and then Wallstreet, then London...I'd say hell no. Unless you're a monetarist, and have no belief in real value, there is no real "wealth" produced from gambling.

 

[erowe1]

Like lotteries, it's a bad idea.

Also, the word "solution" in the thread title implies that the states getting revenue is a good thing. It's not, it's a bad thing.

Solutions to the problem of state revenue would be plans that result in the states getting less.

 

[erowe1]

Using Vegas as a model, and then Wallstreet, then London...I'd say hell no. Unless you're a monetarist, and have no belief in real value, there is no real "wealth" produced from gambling.

What do you mean by "real value"?

 

[Zippyjuan]

Money which is lost to slot machines is money not getting spent at the local hardware store or grocery store to creat jobs.

 

[AlexAmore]

It's true that it doesn't produce wealth, but this is purely about taxation which never produces wealth anyway. This is merely a voluntary vs involuntary method of doing it.

I wouldn't say government's casino revenue should be on top of what we have now, but rather replace. So I wouldn't support this to "increase" revenue. I think this would actually force the government to spend less. Because hypothetically politicians now can't tax any other way, people would have a surplus of money to take a trip to the casino when they feel comfortable.

I don't really know what's wrong with Vegas in your opinion. I know I wouldn't want to live there for various reasons but it's not because of the casinos. If it's because you don't want your town to look like Vegas, I understand. I live by a town called Portsmouth in NH. All the buildings in downtown are now built according to the theme of Portsmouth so when you look at it from across the bay everything is made out of brick and you feel like your transported back to the old days even though some of the buildings are brand new. I'm sure a casino could fit in there and not a soul would notice if they weren't told.

 

[Michael P]

So who here is telling me that I am not responsible enough to do what I want with my own money? I like to gamble. Sometimes I win and sometimes I lose.

 

[Michael P]

Money which is lost to slot machines is money not getting spent at the local hardware store or grocery store to creat jobs.

Yeah because there are no jobs at casinos....

 

[-C-]

What do you mean by "real value"?

Not a monetary figure. Money has no value, itself, in any form. Its nothing more than an exchange of physical productive phenomena of people, thus that is its real value.

 

[brandon]

A lot of misconceptions in this thread. If you believe in free markets, then you also should believe value is purely subjective. Gambling certainly has a "real value" to some people.

If you claim gambling doesn't produce anything and therefore it is a waste, then couldn't you extend the same argument to almost every hobby and form of entertainment? Or even art, music, fashion, and movies?

 

[-C-]

A lot of misconceptions in this thread. If you believe in free markets, then you also should believe value is purely subjective. Gambling certainly has a "real value" to some people.

If you claim gambling doesn't produce anything and therefore it is a waste, then couldn't you extend the same argument to almost every hobby and form of entertainment? Or even art, music, fashion, and movies?

Speculation is just another form of masturbation.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Yeah because there are no jobs at casinos....

For the dollars take in, they create fewer jobs and they probably pay less too.
http://www.hcareers.com/us/resourcecenter/tabid/306/articleid/629/default.aspx

The national average base pay for a casino dealer is $14,700 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

[MRK]

No. In order to increase financial revenues for a bureaucratic monopoly, the bureaucrats overseeing the gambling agency have an incentive to promote people entering a scheme that statistically guarantees financial loss. People may be led to believe that it is without moral fault to lose their money to a public fund without realizing that if they really wanted to gamble away their funds and benefit a charitable cause, they could be giving a larger percentage of their losses to a private gambling charity that takes less off the top than a monopoly which takes an non-negotiable amount for itself.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Government in general should not be in business. Gambling, ice cream, cars, doesn't matter.