Re: \u201cTribes push to open casinos\u00a0\u2014 Opponents worry families will be adversely affected by an increase in gambling,\u201d Sept. 12 news story.<\/p>\n
Your excellent series on Indian gambling has changed my opinion on a social issue. My thinking\u00a0on\u00a0gambling has always been nuanced. As a non-gambler,\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0tended to be open to it as a source of tax revenue paid by others. Yet, as the social impact has become more\u00a0apparent, my opinion\u00a0has\u00a0moved toward prohibition.<\/p>\n
Even so, prohibition itself is a loaded word, invoking our nation\u2019s failed approach to alcohol abuse. But in the century that has passed, society has come close to getting it right on alcohol, and on cigarettes, and we may yet arrive at a workable approach to narcotics.<\/p>\n
While\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0become more opposed to gambling as of late, your series awakened me to its importance to the Native American community. Opposing\u00a0it generally, yet\u00a0permitting\u00a0it on native reservations, may be our best approach.<\/p>\n
Ken\u00a0Duble, Dallas\/The Cedars<\/p>\n
For two days,\u00a0The Dallas Morning News\u00a0featured front page article highlighting casinos. Is this newspaper now supporting gambling in Texas?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s\u00a0bring in more crime, traffic congestion, a decrease in housing values and gambling addictions, just to name a few.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The tribes supporting these efforts are no doubt making money, and lots of it. Yet I say as a native of the state,\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0mess with Texas!<\/p>\n
I\u00a0am of\u00a0two minds about gambling. Although I play Powerball faithfully, to the tune of $6 per week, my fundamentalist Protestant roots tell me it\u2019s wrong at casinos and racetracks and online sports wagering sites because some people become so entrapped in this avaricious form of entertainment that they go deep into debt, destroy their marriages, lose their jobs and generally ruin their lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My libertarian principles, on the other hand, tell me the primacy of personal freedom includes the liberty to take risks with your money if doing so\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0harm anyone else.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s the rub: The profligate gambler can indeed harm his or her family and friends, if not society itself, by the reckless pursuit of a winning hand at any cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Does the state have the duty to save gambling abusers from themselves? Or are the economic benefits of fees and taxes imposed on gambling\u00a0establishments\u00a0of\u00a0paramount\u00a0consideration?<\/p>\n
Judging from the monetary investments that gambling advocates are pouring into the pockets of our elected officials, I think the outcome is entirely predictable.<\/p>\n
\nAllowing a vote on gambling\n<\/p>\n
Be\u00a0careful about\u00a0what you wish for.\u00a0Pretty sure\u00a0the politicians would be hesitant to allow a vote on gambling because it has a good chance of passing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One look at the pilgrimages to the casinos across the borders in Oklahoma and\u00a0Louisiana, and you will see a fair amount of Texas license plates in the parking lots.<\/p>\n
Remember the Oklahoma vote on cannabis?\u00a0That went through pretty\u00a0easily,\u00a0and the state officials were not ready.\u00a0They tried to shut it down multiple times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While I am not a gambler, I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0need or want the government to\u00a0protect me from\u00a0myself.<\/p>\n
Gambling creates two\u00a0major issues\u00a0in society: corruption and addiction. If insiders can place\u00a0bets,\u00a0then turn around and make decisions on those bets, or vice versa, public trust is destroyed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gambling may only be a psychological addiction, but the effects can be just as real and devastating as any narcotic. Even\u00a0appearance, the mere\u00a0possibility,\u00a0of corruption harms trust.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We must weld shut all avenues of corruption before insiders take advantage of them. Similarly, addictive vices like gambling must be strictly contained to well-regulated casinos, lest they leak out to infect daily life.<\/p>\n
However, with how prominent addiction is throughout our country,\u00a0demonstrating\u00a0our failed\u00a0methodology, and how rampant corruption is in Washington, I\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0hold my breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thomas\u00a0Urech, Richardson<\/p>\n
\nPut casinos on the ballot\n<\/p>\n
Do we Texans want all the mess that gambling brings? Before we allow casinos to move in, Texas voters must have a say. Let us put this on our November ballot. Because once we allow casinos, they will never\u00a0depart.<\/p>\n
There seems to be a pattern with the Dallas\u00a0Mavericks,\u00a0and it raises suspicions of under-the-table payment.\u00a0First,\u00a0they trade Luka Doncic, which shocks the city, and now they support tearing down a landmark building, City Hall,\u00a0designed\u00a0by famous architect, I.M. Pei.<\/p>\n
Additionally, lots of pro-gambling articles are in the paper in which\u00a0I feel both sides of the coin\u00a0are being reviewed. These items should be brought to the public to vote on.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve read that the estimate the city management received for repairs and the modernization\u00a0of City\u00a0Hall is higher than the cost of rebuilding Notre Dame after it burnt.<\/p>\n
This all seems most underhanded and a rushed action that needs investigation.<\/p>\n
Patti Dee\u00a0Flanders, Dallas<\/p>\n
Before Texas legalizes gambling, I wish the good people of Texas\u00a0would\u00a0learn about the recently arrested chief of police of New Haven, Conn., detailed in a\u00a0New York Times\u00a0article. The New Haven chief reportedly had a gambling debt of $4.5 million from sports betting online, and officials say he embezzled from police department funds. Sadly, he had an exemplary record before his addiction destroyed him.<\/p>\n
However, the story goes much deeper. Casinos and online sports gambling are destroying families across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is not confined to adults. Adolescents and college students often get trapped by\u00a0addiction\u00a0mainly because of the proliferation of accessible gambling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prohibition\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0work for\u00a0alcohol,\u00a0but regulating alcohol is far better than no regulations. Gambling needs to be regulated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
TV advertising for gambling is everywhere. Perhaps it should be banned. Taking advantage of a vulnerable population for profit is Darwinian capitalism, reminiscent of child labor. We are better than this.<\/p>\n
Jerry\u00a0Frankel, Plano<\/p>\n
Have thoughts about this?\u00a0Send a letter to the editor\u00a0using our letters form<\/a>\u00a0or email\u00a0letters@dallasnews.com<\/a>. Letters should be no more than 200 words and include the first and last name of the writer and city of residence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Re: \u201cTribes push to open casinos\u00a0\u2014 Opponents worry families will be adversely affected by an increase in gambling,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-266734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}