The governor and gambling

Comments on Sunday's column about Gov. Charlie Crist's budget and his reliance on revenue from expanded gambling:

I believe the reality is that he continues to take the easy way out... I also think this is going to catch up with him and us.  I have known Charlie for some time and I have recently noticed that he has lost a lot of popularity with what I would call the more informed voters but his one-liners continue to work on those who aren't necessarily looking for much depth. Your thoughts? -- Rich

If Crist and others were to really get serious about this, why not shape up kindergarten children to gamble with pennies?  They could do this by rigging the system so children frequently won in the early stages. They could have lotteries in all the grades as pupils passed through school---and pay for school costs with the money kids brought in. Eventually, when the kids became voters they would eagerly support bigger and bigger lotteries.  It seems like everyone would benefit.  We would have a huge population of gamblers.  All of it would work ...........until the adults learned how they had been duped. Crist should be shamed for supporting ANY form of government sponsored gambling. -- Darrel Bostow

I don't get it.  In the past whenever the gambling question arose there was a loud hue and cry about how terrible it is to expand or support gambling. Most often cited was the fact that it is the lowest strata of the community who engage in gambling, the lottery being the best example - and proves the point. But now, because it's St. Charlie...all of a sudden it's OK to raise money based on the weakness and ignorance of people hoping to strike it rich while they're "one pay check away from homelessness". What am I missing here and where are the keepers of our "morals" in Florida? Prediction: when St.. Charlie is finally exposed for the $3 bill he is, he will take one of the hardest falls in political history.  Bet on it. -- Dan

Thanks for the e-mails, gentlemen. I agree -- he IS taking the easy way out. On the suggestion that we "train" kids from childhood to gamble to support the state, I have actually heard that idea in more serious terms! But as for the predictions that this will "catch up" with our happy governor, I don't think so. His critics have been waiting his enter career for things to catch up with him. My read is that most Floridians are happy to take the gambling deal if they think it means a couple dollars fewer from their own pockets, regardless of the hidden costs.

Comments

The biggest “gamble” our state has taken was electing this guy our Governor. Asserting that one can present and maintain a “balanced budget”, supported (in part) by an inconsistent revenue stream, is borderline ludi-crist (pun intended).

One of the primary reasons our School System is struggling and incapable of maintaining consistency is the fact that its budget is funded (in part) by an inconstant revenue stream (Lotto).

It is an absolute wonder that people actually believed that Crist and company would lower insurance and tax rates. How many times do we need to be smacked in the teeth before we wake the hell up?

OUCH! … thank you sir, may I have another?”

[ed]

when people begin to realize how little substance charlie has, his image will begin to crumble!! its kind of sad because charlie seemed to have developed a resavoir of people feeling he would be a good leader. has this VP possibility driven him over the edge???

[guy]

I never could figure out why people are so opposed to gambling, that the government makes it against the law.
It is my money, why in the world does the government or anyone else care how I spend my own money, if I am not hurting anyone in the process.
I love to bet on football and play poker, but it is illegal.
Why???.
I used to wonder this as a little boy.
They could gamble in the old western movies, but now it was illegal.
When was these laws made?, probably around prohibition.
Is this a religious thing??.
How come we now have to make a deal with the Seminole Indians to get some of the profits for the state.
I can't spend my money on gambling unless I get on a boat and go out 13 miles, or go to Las Vegas, what a joke.
This I think is an example of big brother being stupid and losing a lot of money, that more than likely could straighten out a lot of huge problems that we now face.
It's okay to play the stock market but
that takes lots of money and I can't handi-cap it as well as a football game.
Really before everyone has a herky fit think about it.

[Don Mott]

I'm not sure the state needs to be telling people how they should or should not spend their money. Plenty of folks take trips to Vegas, Biloxi, Atlantic City, casino cruises and elsewhere to gamble so why not keep it in house to reap the profits and taxes? Guy mentions the stock market which is interesting because that is also gambling. I do not gamble other than the stocks in my 401 but I would resent the state government telling me how, when and where I can spend MY money. The school system struggling that was mentioned is not due to Lotto funds being inconstant. It is because for every dollar the lotto funds have added to the system our elected legislators removed another one from the schools budget. Think about that and tell me where the problem truly lies. Government telling us how to spend our money while at the same time squandering our money is the real problem. They throw money around as if it grows on trees, which for them it literally does. Which leads back to Charlie taking the easy way out. I believe he should have done more to cut down on government waste but that would have been a battle he probably didn't want to wage. The freeloaders in Tallahassee would have cried too much. So yes he may have taken the easy way out but I'm not so sure it was a bad way, time will tell.

[Jan Allyn]

Could it be that the Guv is looking at short-term solutions because he's planning to be around only for a short time, and has bigger things in mind for 2012?
Just a thought.

[Boo Boo]

Amendment 1 passes! I saved $240. Got my insurance bill yesterday went up $400. Going to the casino see if i can make that $240 into $400 to cover the increase.
Seem to be spinning my wheels.

[stop the crazy]

You got it Boo Boo. Taxes aren't the problem, INSURANCE is. Talk about inequities! Why am I paying a windstorm tax, yes tax, on my auto policies? Why is there a windstorm tax, yes tax, on the personal property rider I pay on my son's trumpet! WAKE UP PEOPLE! It's the Insurance, stupid!

[Kay]

Crist always struck me as too shallow. I voted for the other guy. I almost wish he would become the vp nominee to get him out of FL but then I'd have to worry (even more) about the whole country.

[Chris Jenkins]

When it comes to "Vice" legislation, there are typically two takes on it:

1. Ban the vice. If we make it illegal, it will keep people from doing it.

2. Allow the vice, and tax it. Use a portion of the proceeds to educate people as to why it is a vice.

Despite all the good intentions of the crowd rallying for point 1, it simply does not work. There is not one example of any form of prohibition ever successfully removing that vice from the market.

Like it or not, people are going to drink, gamble, smoke, use recreational drugs, and the services of prostitutes. Countries such as Holland have effectively created a population less likely to choose to do so by removing the onus of illegality (and thus, the attraction of rebellion), and using the revenue generated in taxation to better educate the citizenry on the possible consequences of engaging in those vices.

So bring on the Gambling! Bring on the "Bunny Ranches", the "Herbal Clinics" and "Coffee Shops". Locate them outside densely populated areas (as the Hard Rock currently is), and tax the crap out of them.

Then, with the proceeds, instead of trying to legislate morality, let's TEACH it, and teach our children to be the kind of people who make decisions that will be good for them. Natural Selection will take care of the rest.