Saturday, October 6, 2012

Maryland Question 7: Why I Vote "No" to More Casinos.


There have been 100s of ads and newspaper articles about Maryland's Question 7 to approve another casino. Every major area newspaper says adding another casino will be bad for Maryland.

The casinos are spending millions ($24M per one article) on ads that could better be used to feed the homeless, the hungry, and the unemployed.

The Maryland-casino supporters want you to think that casinos are great because "some" money "might" go to Maryland education. They want you to think these will be "good" jobs. They want you to think it's a "fight" between West Virginia and Maryland.

All these proposals are crap, plain and simple.

Even after 20 years living here, I still find it hard to believe folks just do NOT know right from wrong. Gambling was, isn't, and never will be a good thing. Gambling is not a form of entertainment. While there are a few people who play for fun, most gamblers have addictive-leaning personalities, if not an actual addiction.

At my nail salon a month ago, one manicurist mentioned her mom only plays cards for nickels and dimes. I asked her how much a day does her mom lose and the manicurist said $5. While that doesn't sound like a lot, $5 a day is $150 a month. When I pointed that out, everyone in the shop was shocked.

Let's talk about what kind of jobs casinos offer. These days, employers get away with too much just by shouting "jobs" in a way similar to shouting "Fire" in a crowded theater. Watch which jobs you run to. You may be heading into the flames, not away from them. Casino ads say the average salary is $55,000. If you have 2000 employees, the CEO can make hundreds of thousands of dollars while the rest of the casino workers make only $20,000. Did you read the fine print? It notes that this salary includes benefits (i.e., no moeny directly in your pocket) and tips! How much in tips do you get from losers/ Remember, casinos are a business and they can't stay in business if players win too much or too often.

It is also true that the casino doesn't have to hire Marylanders. (They will have to bring people in from other places to at least train the locals.)

We are finally getting details on these 12,000 jobs: hotel staff, restaurant employees, some accountants and engineers. Do you like cleaning toilets? How about busing tables? What about being a bouncer? That's what the bulk of the casino jobs are. I am not an accountant or engineer so those few positions won't work for my masters degree in research.

And, have you ever provided customer support? How well do you deal with people who are drunk, people who yell because they are losing, or people who lost all of their money and have no way to get home? What if somone asks you to help them cheat? This is what it's really like to work at a casino per friends of mine who lived outside Los Vegas for decades.

The goal to provide for education from something I consider immoral is like covering candy with yogurt - some of it is good for you but most of it isn't. Today's Washington Examiner has an article about how DC agencies fail to follow Watchdog’s advice. There is no guarantee that the money will be spent the way you intended. If you want money to go to a specific place, then send it there yourself.

And since when are we at "war" with West Virginia? Aren't casinos already catering to your dark side if they want to get you to engage in an imaginary fight?

How should you vote?

"Against the Additional Forms and Expansion of Commercial Gaming"


 
Updated 10/07/2012

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