Snake Oil

"The snake oil they peddle is economic development, painless revenue source, and entertainment. They don't say, 'but, a lot of you are going to lose your lives. A lot of you are going to lose your homes.' We're saying it's not good economics, it's not good public policy and it's not good for the quality of life."

Great interview:

Interview with Rev. Thomas Grey


Rules are changed to help racetracks survive. If a Ford dealership in a state is going broke, does a bill go in to see that that Ford dealership gets slot machines so it can stay open? Of course not. So, I think it's that type of established favoritism and quid pro quo and flat out being bought that makes government, at this point not just suspect, I think we've got to name it. They've built the feeding trough, they've put the slop in it and they're now going to feed on it.

Jim Thompson rammed riverboat gambling through in Illinois, left office, and has now become the top lobbyist for the gambling interests in Illinois. What Jim Thompson has done is built the feeding trough, put the gambling in it and now wants to extend it. Is there not something wrong?

...Harrah's survey would tell you it's the James Bond character that walks in with the blond at the casino and has got all this disposable income. People, walk down to your grocery store on Saturday night when the jackpot is $30-40 million and look who's standing in line. That's the sight test, OK. I don't believe any surveys the gambling companies put out that tell me. James Bond is not standing in line with the blond on his arm, waiting to buy his Quick Pick ticket. Understand, this is preying on those people that can least afford it and citizens know that.


So what happens is they knew that all of these were creating a new generation. The Mayo Clinic did a statistic that just opened my eyes very early. The Mayo Clinic and Rochestman saw the average age of the compulsive gambler they were treating in 1970 was between the age of 30 and 55. And that made some sense to me. It took a person awhile to go from the midwest, the heartland, out to Las Vegas and to become compulsive. In 1990 the average age range that they were dealing with were between the ages of 17 and 70. So this predator had now penetrated two age markets: our young and our old and retired people. That's what availability, accessibility, bringing gambling to Main Street has done. It's allowed them to get their hooks in to our young and our old. And once the hooks are in they take them down.


Q: I just spoke with an old casino hand from Vegas, and he said he could see giving away everything, all the alcohol, all the food, all the rooms, and still making a killing.

Grey: Or course. Understand, again, this is based on getting a person to spend more than they bring in. You make it easy for them to trace that loss. It's easier to get credit in a casino than it is a bank. Access to money, they'll do anything. Fax for it, get it. And the beauty of the business is, is that once the person taps out, the state then prosecutes and gets the money that they've embezzled or lost and they walk away with the money and we walk away with the problem.

The embezzlement of a million dollars is not rare. Does anyone stop and think, a million dollars is taken out of the economy, it's embezzled. The person that embezzled it, if he doesn't kill himself, which often times happens, will go to prison. And we'll pay for the cell. The casino owner does not give the million dollars back. Does the casino owner do that? Why not? Why could we not bring a legal case against a casino for allowing someone to lose that amount. Can we not check the credit? Can we not understand that a person that is losing a half million dollars might be in over their head? Of course not, because the predator takes the money, sticks us with the bill and laughs all the way to the bank. People, you want to be laughed at? Then let these casino guys operate in your communities. People in Pittsburgh, we go right full cycle. Do we need to make--is Mr. Sino--richer? Let's just leave him be rich. We don't have to add the "er" at the price of a pain that would cause on us.

Q: Back to that man who loses a half a million dollars; not only is he not a credit problem, he's actually considered one of the best customers.

Grey: Oh, as long as he can come back with another half million, you're darned right. You are treated well as long as you have money. There's a great movie by Albert Brooks, Lost in America, where he went in and said 'my wife just lost our nest egg. You have to understand. You'll give it back.' I mean, the guy just looks at him. You're out of here. We got what we want. We got the nest egg. Hit the road, Jack.

Is there a connection?