This morning's congressional hearing on gambling

I'm at the congressional hearing on online fantasy sports gambling this morning in Washington, DC. Here's a link to the statement we're presenting to members of Congress today on behalf of our national Stop Predatory Gambling network.

Many of us first participated in our mission to oppose a regional casino or lottery in our part of the country. But after becoming involved in this good fight, we learned this issue has an equally damaging impact on our nation and its future.

Each of us needs to be a messenger in our local area and deliver the word about why the time has come to sunset this public policy. The message that we're giving to Congress today can be boiled down to 30 seconds and can be used to talk with anyone, regardless of their age, political persuasion and geography. Here it is:

A look at the facts of almost 40 years of government-regulated gambling leads to one unavoidable conclusion: Whether in the form of regional casinos or state lotteries, government’s regulation of gambling has been a spectacular failure by almost any measure.

1) It creates more inequality of opportunity than any other single act of government

2) It has shown over and over again that the almost singular focus of government-regulated gambling has been on driving maximum sales and profits, not protecting citizens: “Taxation By Exploitation”

3) It has led to higher taxes for less services for the 2/3 of citizens who rarely gamble and to worse state budget problems over the long term: “You Pay Even If You Don’t Play”

4) It has supremely failed to reduce illegal gambling

5) It has proven to be about granting monopolies and awarding regulatory advantages to favored firms and little to do with economic growth and free market principles

Our Congressional statement looks at each of these failures more in depth.

Please do your part to talk to your community members, your faith organizations and your public officials about why one of our local and national priorities must be to sunset the policy of government-sponsored gambling.

If you support our mission and work, please contribute $10 or more today to help sustain it.

Thank you.

Best,

Les Bernal
National Director
Stop Predatory Gambling

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Build a more humane and just society: sunset the policy of government-sponsored gambling because it's dishonest, financially damaging to citizens and contributes to rising inequality of opportunity.