The predatory gambling mission of New York: Outperform pornography
By SPG September 04, 2009
New York Governor David Paterson ordered the New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. to prepare for a reorganization under Chapter 9 of federal bankruptcy law, after four years of losses totaling $38 million.
The filing, the first involving a New York State-run gambling operation, won’t halt operations. It will include the planned sale of $250 million of bonds to repay some accumulated debts and allow spending on new technology, said Meyer Frucher, whom Paterson appointed to develop a rescue plan.
Here’s an unforgettable quote from Frucher about the promise of state-sponsored gambling as reported by Bloomberg News:
With updated technology, “We could go head to head with
pornography and win,” Frucher said, referring to possibilities
such as an around-the-clock horse-racing channel or virtual racing.
The mission of our democracy, established clearly in our Constitution, is “to promote the general welfare.” State-sponsored predatory gambling violates this mission. Can you imagine any of America’s formative leaders over the last 225 years declaring that “we could go head to head with pornography and win”?
State-sponsored predatory gambling symbolizes everything we need to change about the current state of our democracy and our economic future. It’s up to us to fix it.
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