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The bet America needs to make
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When Congress adjourns in a few weeks for the final time before the November elections, members will hit the campaign trail to talk about the economy. We will hear our nation's fiscal state analogized to leveraged credit card users -- our government spending wildly and postponing the day of reckoning. Given my life experiences, I prefer to call it gambling, which, ironically enough, could help resuscitate an America at the financial brink if Congress is willing to pass legislation that would legalize online gambling and raise much-needed funds.
It is ironic because I am a former compulsive gambler, and much of my life has been devastated by the poor decisions I made in service of that addiction. I lost all of the money that I earned as a successful health care entrepreneur and served time in prison after my gambling contributed to a bank failure. Examining the financial state of our government reminds me of those dark days when I would borrow money just so that I could either pay my debts or head to the casino.
Even if you succeed at that game temporarily, it eventually catches up to you. Always.
Looking at the unsustainable condition of the nation's balance sheet, this drunken night at the casino will end soon too, and it will end painfully for all of us unless we start generating taxable revenue that does not simultaneously hamper production.
Legalizing and regulating online gambling is one such means of accomplishing that, and, as a concerned citizen who is nonetheless acutely aware of the dangers of gambling, I urge Congress to recognize the advantages of doing so. Unlike, say, an Annie Duke, who recently testified before the House Financial Services Committee to urge legalization and passage of the Barney Frank-sponsored HR 2267, I have not gambled in nearly nine years and have no personal interest in ever doing so again. Instead, my position stems from my belief that gambling, while not for everyone, can be a source of responsible entertainment for many adults and should be left to an individual's personal choice, that it can generate very significant funds for the government, and that it is most dangerous when left to the shadows of the international underworld, where it could pose a national security risk.
Gambling, like drinking, predates our republic, and has always been a stigmatized activity given how it can destroy lives, as opponents of legalized gambling observe. Paternalism, however, does not make good policy, and politicians who want to use the gambling issue to make a moral statement are only exacerbating its dangers.
Gambling is already a massive business in America, and people will engage in it no matter what. Certainly that, in and of itself, does not justify its legalization, but combined with the potential to generate revenue and the fact that legalized, regulated and monitored gambling would better protect vulnerable addicts like myself, does.
The technologies that could be employed through online gambling could be effective at identifying and curtailing problem gamblers by limiting the number of bets that could be placed within a certain time frame, limiting amounts waged, and requiring banner ads for addiction services. The current system, on the other hand, continues to be plagued with cases like mine and that of Terrance Watanabe, who has been engaged in a legal battle with Harrah's after he alleged that part of the more than $100 million he lost gambling was due to wrongful inducement.
Gambling, like it or not, is part of the American culture, whether it is making a bet on who wins "American Idol" or placing a friendly Sunday wager on the football game. Life, metaphorically speaking, is a bet, with decisions made every day based on risk-reward calculations and inherent uncertainties.
What is certain, however, is this: Our country is in fiscal crisis, gambling is a big business, and the current underground gaming model is ruining many more lives than would an appropriately regulated federal system. It is time that we as a society accept that reality and proactively deal with the issue for all of our benefit. If I gambled, I'd bet that doing so could be worth it.
Adam Resnick is author of "Bust: How I Gambled and Lost a Fortune, Brought Down a Bank -- And Lived to Pay for It" (Harper Collins, 2007). He writes from Chicago.
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You make 100% sense here Adam (I hope you don't mind me calling you by your first name). I read an article in the Nevada Appeal about this and actually had to reply in one of the blogs I occasionally write for http://blog.jackpotcity.com/it-is-time-for-a-change-in-attitude-towards-online-casinos/ (Yes, shoot me for writing stuff on an online casino blog, but I'm all for freedom of speech and nothing beats playing a good game of blackjack online).
odj have you ever heard of Brooksley Born? She was one of President Clinton's financial advisors in 1998. She told both Clinton and Greenspan that if they did not check the derivitives and regulate the financial industry that the market would collapse. They did a special on her on PBS. that is the education channel in case you have heard! Stop just blaming the Republicans for not regulating the financial industry. Clinton also forced Fanne Mae and Freddy Mac to make loans to people that could not afford homes
America needs to turn from the dark side, and return to its roots.
Self determination, small govt, protection of citizens.
Its simple.
More lies, ODJ? Don't you ever tire of telling them? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs
Taxes, "like it or not, are part of the American culture" also and the government is not going to stand for a competitor. how many times do you think the gov. will hear the excuse "I can't pay my taxes, I lost all my money online", before that misadventure is ended? odj is right. it's jobs! keep them here! and equalise the trade deficit.
And Obama's financial reform 'fixed' the problems of Fannie and Freddie Mac? The two programs that Barney Frank said was solvent? Gambling on a candidate who has professed 'hope, change, dream' rhetoric to get elected? And what did we get? A tripled deficit, higher foreclosures, higher unemployment, mandate we 'purchase' certain products, a 'leader' of America who bows to Saudi Kings and files lawsuits against our own American people in Arizona....what could be better than that? "Even if you succeed at that game temporarily, it eventually catches up to you. Always." Well said.
I really hope that people realize th gamble they make with their future not informing themselves and letting others misguide them with FALSE HOPE AND CHANGE. The TV preachers used to do it, we all figured out that scheme ONLY after many fell for it.
Gambling is what got us into this mess in the first place, WALL STREET GAMBLING! Aided by the republicans pushing through banking deregulation and unregulated derivatives trading. Wall Street(GoldmanSachs) then taught several countries to hide their debt obligations, to secure credit at a lower interest rate(Greece, Ireland, Spain...etc).
This is just another distraction from what really ails our country, JOBS! Or a lack there of, is online gaming gonna create jobs? Not in our country! Stop rewarding companies for shipping jobs overseas, punish those that do with HIGHER TARIFFS TO BRING IN THEIR PRODUCTS. Reward companies that open factories here, manufacture goods in America again!