Two major wins for opponents of predatory gambling

Members of SPG's network in both Nebraska and Alabama recently defeated massive predatory gambling bills in the face of big money lobbying campaigns by gambling interests. These are major wins for opponents of predatory gambling. 

Last week a bill proposing to legalize a state lottery in Alabama was rejected. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, a key sponsor of the lottery bill, called the defeat a vote against "children in poverty today," once again proving the truth that when a practice is dishonest, its promoters speak about it dishonestly. Joe Godfrey, the leader of the Alabama Citizens Action Program and a SPG board member, played a key role along with several others in applying relentless pressure throughout the last four weeks.

This week the Nebraska Secretary of State announced that all three proposed predatory gambling petitions failed to reach the valid signature threshold to appear before state voters on the November ballot. Pat Loontjer, the dynamic and effective leader of Nebraska's predatory gambling opposition group "Gambling with the Good Life, has been educating citizens in her state about the issue for many years, making it challenging for even a paid signature gathering effort by gambling interests to advance. Pat is also a SPG board member.

You and I know how tough the fight is against predatory gambling in our communities and in our states. No other issue has such a disparity in political spending. Nor is there another issue that government officials make no effort to remedy even though the facts are clear and unavoidable that government's partnership with gambling has been a spectacular failure.

We are called upon not to be successful, but to be faithful. Today, we are thankful to be faithful and successful.

If you believe what we believe in, please support our work by contributing $10 or more today to help sustain it.

Thank you.

Best,

Les Bernal
National Director
Stop Predatory Gambling

________________________________

Improving the lives of the American people, using education and advocacy to free us of the dishonesty, exploitation, addiction and inequality that commercial gambling spreads. 

Lincoln horse race is a farce

Local View: Lincoln horse race is a farce

August 20, 2015 11:57 pm  •  BY PAT LOONTJER

Enlarge Photo

I found it very interesting that the Lincoln Race Course is so proud to announce its one day a year of horse racing in order to keep its simulcast license. They should be ashamed of themselves for bragging about this farce.

Nebraska horse tracks are the only business in the state allowed to gamble on simulcast races in other states. They were given that privilege years ago under the guise that they would use the profits to hold horse races and thus “save the horses.” Well, that never happened, and now they are back, saying they need slots to “save the horses.” When will the gambling industry admit that they don’t give a hoot about the horses and just want to use them to line their own pockets with gambling dollars?

Just look at what happened to our neighbor, Iowa. The gambling industry cried that they needed slots to “save the dogs.” They got the slots, but just last year a Council Bluffs casino announced it was losing $9 million a year keeping dog racing alive. They offered their Legislature millions to let them off the hook, dump the dogs and continue to make a fortune on slots. Proponents of the change said it was time for the dogs to go, as they are a dying breed. The same thing will happen to the poor horses that are being used as pawns in the Nebraska scenario.

A one- or two-day race season in Lincoln and Omaha is not live horse racing. The Racing Commission no longer exists to support live horse racing. They are working to transform horse tracks into other forms of gambling, like simulcasting and, their dream, slot machine parlors. This is not good for live horse racing or for Nebraska. The state racing commission fears its own end, since horse racing has effectively ended in Nebraska due to lack of public interest. 

“Give us the slots, and we’ll create jobs and save the horses,” they promise. Don’t bet on it! What it will do is increase gambling addiction, which in turn destroys families and legitimate businesses. Do we need more crime, more embezzlements, more divorces and more suicides? NO.

The Racing Board officials in Nebraska also announced that they will be back in the Legislature next year to try to get the “Historic Horse Racing Machines” put on the ballot. Remember that these are the same “Dead Horse Slot Machines” that have been defeated year after year. Rest assured, if they are coming back, then so will we. Gambling With the Good Life has protected Nebraska families and businesses against expanded gambling successfully for the past 20 years, and we are not about to give up now.

Pat Loontjer is executive director of Gambling With the Good Life, an organization that has been working against expanded gambling since 1995.

http://journalstar.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/local-view-lincoln-horse-race-is-a-farce/article_cd4ef4f5-2bbb-543f-a7d8-a07820dd3280.html

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Horseshoe Casino keeps $$$, Council used campaign donations to support a gambling addiction

Did you ever notice that the SLOT BARN that sucks law-abiding citizens into GAMBLING ADDICTION is not always named?

And the SLOT BARN gets to keep the $$$?

She used campaign donations to support a gambling addiction

Posted: Friday, September 12, 2014 5:07 pm

 

by Joe Duggan World-Herald Bureaulexch.com

 

LINCOLN — Former State Sen. Brenda Council lost her license to practice law Friday after the Nebraska Supreme Court disbarred her for using campaign donations to support a gambling addiction.

 

The high court’s decision to impose its highest sanction on Council came after a court referee who reviewed the case recommended a temporary suspension and probation. In a written judgment released Friday, the court said a lesser punishment would fail to reinforce the higher standard to which lawyers and elected officials are held.

 

“By misappropriating the funds entrusted to her as a public officer and covering up that misappropriation with misrepresentations, respondent violated the public trust and abused her office,” the court wrote. “Such abuse of public office by an attorney ‘can suggest an inability to fulfill the professional role of lawyers.’ ”

 

Council, 60, of Omaha, can seek reinstatement as a lawyer in five years. The Supreme Court must consider such applications, although it rarely grants reinstatement.

 

Messages left with Council Friday morning were not immediately returned. Her lawyer, Vince Powers of Lincoln, said she was disappointed but accepted the court’s decision.

 

“Brenda Council very much regrets what happened,” Powers said. “She recognizes it’s 100 percent on her. It’s her responsibility. It’s no one else’s fault.”

 

Powers said Council is employed and is moving on with her life. He declined to say what she is doing professionally, but he emphasized she remains committed to treatment for her gambling addiction.

 

The case stems from Council’s misappropriation of more than $63,000 in campaign funds, which she spent at casinos over a 2½-year period. She used a campaign debit card to withdraw money more than 100 times. Her misuse of the funds came to light in 2012 when Attorney General Jon Bruning filed state charges.

 

Professional disciplinary charges were filed against Council’s license based on two misdemeanor convictions in state court for abuse of public records. She pleaded guilty and was fined $250 on each charge.

 

In October, felony wire fraud charges were filed in U.S. District Court. In a plea deal, she was fined $500 and put on probation for three years.

 

During a May hearing before the high court, John W. Steele, assistant counsel for discipline, said: “I don’t think we should have felons practice law.”

 

At the same hearing, Powers said the court should take into account his client’s long record of public service and professional accomplishment.

 

Fremont attorney Thomas Thomsen, the court referee, had recommended that her law license be suspended for one year and that she be given two years’ probation.

 

In his report, Thomsen praised Council’s record of service and her willingness to tackle her gambling addiction. She had since repaid the funds and had participated in a 12-step program to help overcome her addiction.

 

“We all lose if our sanction prevents (Council) from serving her clients in her community as an attorney,” Thomsen said.

 

Council also argued the misappropriation did not involve client funds.

 

But the high court said it did not see a distinction, because the money was used for a purpose other than for which it was intended. Additionally, the judges said the mitigating factors in Council’s case did not sufficiently overcome the fact that she committed the offense repeatedly and tried to cover it up.

 

Council was elected to north Omaha’s District 11 legislative seat in 2008, after serving on the Omaha school board and the Omaha City Council. She got her law degree from Creighton University in 1977.

 

Despite the charges, she sought a second term in the Legislature but was defeated.

 

Judge Lindsey Miller-Lerman recused herself from the case, which was decided by the court’s six other judges.

 

Contact the writer:

402-473-9587, joe.duggan@owh.com

Brenda Council

 

She regrets her actions and “recognizes it’s 100 percent on her,” says her lawyer, Vince Powers.

 

http://lexch.com/news/regional/she-used-campaign-donations-to-support-a-gambling-addiction/article_2650a41e-3ac9-11e4-bb8d-5f51796457e3.html


Friends of Brenda Council expect her to continue to help people, despite loss of her law license

State Sen. Brenda Council charged with campaign finance violations



[audio available on link]
 
Bruning also said he does not think the action will affect Council’s legal eligibility for office. The Nebraska Constitution says people convicted of felonies are ineligible for office, but contains no such provision for misdemeanors. Bruning noted that in 2005, Council had signed a voluntary ban on her presence at a casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa. When she later violated that ban, she was first warned, then was arrested for trespassing.

Council addressed that situation in a 2008 interview when it was raised by her opponent that year, Dennis Womack. “I think what people ought to focus on is that it was a decision on my part that that was an activity that I should discontinue. And the error that was committed was going into a facility, not for the purpose of gambling, and having the effect of my decision to discontinue that activity come back to haunt me,” she said at the time.

 

No gambling

Letter 3-14, No gambling

March 13, 2014 11:55 pm

 

I write today with great disappointment in regard to the state senators who have voted "yes" on LR41 CA. This constitutional amendment would allow the four horse tracks and the Indian tribes to have unlimited video gambling machines (horse slots). One of the state senators who voted “yes” on LR41 CA is Sen. Kathy Campbell. This senator who has served on several boards that help protect children in many different areas has now voted “yes” to a bill that would wreak havoc on many families’ lives.

With the push of a button, she has voted “yes” every year for expanded gambling. This is an activity that has ended people's lives by suicide due to the pressure of overwhelming debt. Other families have suffered physical and emotional abuse because of gambling addictions. For Sen. Campbell to be a mouthpiece for peace and to vote "yes" on every single gambling bill throughout her term, sets a double standard and is giving a message all on its own.

How disappointing, Sen. Campbell. We need to welcome Indian communities into our society and address current addiction issues. We should not pass bills similar to LR41 CA that will not only destroy the addicts' lives, but contribute to destroying their families as well. This bill has one more round of voting before being passed. Senators, please vote “No” and leave a legacy you can be proud of.

Amber Parker, Omaha

Gambling bills come with huge costs

Midlands Voices: Gambling bills come with huge costs

By Glen Andersen

The writer, of Blair, is a member of the organization Gambling With the Good Life.

Proposals before the Legislature would allow casino gambling in Nebraska. When considering any bill, the primary concern should be: “Is it best for the people of Nebraska?”

It seems that the sponsors and proponents of expanded gambling have not been willing to address the well-known problems that come with gambling.

Proponents say gambling would generate tax revenue. No doubt about that. Iowa casinos had adjusted gross casino revenue of $1.43 billion and generated $295.6 million in tax revenue in 2013.

We can estimate tax revenue in Nebraska by first reducing the Iowa tax revenue by about 14 percent (for Nebraskans gambling in Iowa), and then by comparing the population of Nebraska (1.89 million) to Iowa (3.09 million) and estimating casino tax revenue in Nebraska of $153.7 million.

The problem is that someone’s gain is usually someone else’s loss. Using the average Iowa tax rate of 20.7 percent, casino gross revenue (money lost by gamblers) would be $742 million. Estimating 1.38 million adults of gambling age in Nebraska, the average money lost at casinos would be $539 per adult per year.

A large portion of Nebraskans are not gamblers, and a very large portion would not gamble more than a few dollars per year. Therefore, a small portion of the population would carry the burden of losing the most money.

“Gaming machines,” slot machines, are a much larger challenge to problem gamblers than other forms of gambling. According to a University of Lethbridge study prepared for the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Center, 62 percent of “gaming machine” losses are by problem gamblers who make up 4.8 percent of the adult population.

In that case, 4.8 percent of Nebraska adults would be losing $460 million, and each of those 66,000 people would be losing an average of $6,900.

With proposed constitutional amendment LR 416CA, 50 percent of the tax revenue would be used for property tax relief. This may appeal to the non-gambler because he might get a small amount of property tax relief at the expense of a friend or neighbor who has an affinity for gambling.

But with a property tax reduction of $55.68 (average to each adult), someone — maybe his neighbor — would be losing $6,900 at casinos. A non-gambler can look at this as a way to reduce his taxes by fleecing his neighbor. Is this really the way the state should be taxing Nebraskans?

Proponents say, “We are already losing gambling money to Iowa!” Yes, we are. Along with many Nebraskans, I resent the fact that Iowa has these casinos right across the Missouri River. But resentment is not a good thing on which to base rational decisions.

Crossing the river for gambling is a psychological hurdle for many people. If the casinos were on our side of the river, there would be more Nebraskans gambling.

But if we were to allow casinos in Nebraska, they would not be placed next to our side of the river.

They would be in west Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island or outstate. Easier access to gambling would increase the number of Nebraskans gambling. It would increase the amount of money lost by the elderly on Social Security. It would increase the gambling losses of a mother or father of children. It would increase crime resulting from gambling losses.

The legislative proposals include provisions that designate where the tax revenues would go. If the

Legislature is wise enough to determine the future of gambling in the state, why does this amendment have to specify that a certain portion must go to property tax relief, a portion to education and a portion to health care?

It appears that the purpose is to make gambling more palatable: “Look at the good things that would be done with the money generated by gambling!” Why must we make this proposal look pretty?

The minute we change our state constitution for even one slot machine, we open the state to Indian casinos. They are allowed to have anything that’s legal in a state, and they have already announced that they are ready to pounce on the opportunity.

How can we possibly consider allowing large casino corporations to come in and cause the financial distress and social problems that we know would happen? These are the very problems that good government is supposed to be alleviating.

How can good government promote something that would be really bad for many of Nebraska’s citizens?


http://www.omaha.com/article/20140221/NEWS08/140229838/1677

Ameristar Received Stolen Funds From Gambling Addict

Employer Blames Casino for $4 Million Embezzlement

By CAMERON LANGFORD

 

(CN) - A candy wholesaler sued an Ameristar casino for $4 million, claiming it "enticed and enabled" a worker who embezzled the money and blew it on slot machines.

     Colombo Candy & Tobacco Wholesale Co. dba Colombo Distribution sued Ameristar Casino Council Bluffs in Douglas County Court, Tulsa.

It claims its employee, Jane Doe, blew more than $3 million of the $4 million she embezzled at the Ameristar casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Colombo claims Doe worked as its controller from July 2010 to July 2012. Doe, who is not a party to the case, was in charge of all company finances until it discovered her massive theft and fired her, Colombo says in the complaint.

"Doe accomplished her embezzlement by taking advantage of her position
as controller to, among other things, inflate inventory and accounts receivable, and manipulate payroll," the complaint states. "Doe used Automated Clearing House ('ACH') transactions to deposit the embezzled funds into Doe's own accounts, against which she then cashed checks at Ameristar, made cash withdrawals at Ameristar and otherwise transferred the money to Ameristar.

"Doe has entered into a settlement agreement that admits to the embezzlement from plaintiff, and admits to liability to plaintiff. Doe has signed a Stipulation for Judgment and a Judgment by Confession granting plaintiff a judgment against Doe in the amount of four million ninety-nine thousand four-hundred one and 55/100 dollars ($4,099,401.55). Doe cannot repay the amount embezzled or stolen from plaintiff.

"Doe's annual salary from plaintiff was only approximately $62,000 per year. Yet in 2011 alone, Doe lost in excess of $1,750,000 to Ameristar.

     "Ameristar knew the money Doe was using to gamble was embezzled or stolen or had information that would lead a reasonable person to believe the money Doe was using to gamble was embezzled or stolen."

Colombo Candy claims the casino regularly cashed $10,000 checks for Doe.

"For example, within the two-week period between February 22, 2011 and March 7, 2011, Ameristar cashed 16 checks for $10,000 each, for a total of $160,000. Over the Labor Day weekend of 2011, Ameristar cashed checks totaling $100,000 for Doe," the complaint states.

"Ameristar patrons specifically asked Ameristar cashiers what the source of Doe's funding was.

"Ameristar deliberately closed its eyes to the source of Doe's funding that Doe transferred to Ameristar in order to gamble, in order to avoid meaningful exposure to information that would have provided Ameristar with knowledge of Doe's embezzlement of Plaintiff's money."

Impressed by Doe's big spending, Colombo says, the casino treated her like a VIP.

"Ameristar gave special privileges to Doe, including permitting her to go behind the cashier's 'cage' where patrons generally are not permitted in order to obtain cash. Doe would routinely obtain cash in $10,000 increments several times a night.

"Ameristar deliberately acquired video-slot machines to induce protracted high-risk gambling for Doe, modifying particular video-slot machines specifically for Doe on at least three occasions to increase the amount of money Doe could spend on a single 'spin' or game. Ameristar, on at least one occasion, upon getting a new or modified machine, called Doe and held the machine 'off limits' to other patrons until Doe could be the first to play it.

"Ameristar's video-slot machines are designed to create and enhance an illusion of control over the outcome of the 'spin' or 'game played,' and Ameristar actively encouraged that belief by pointing out to Doe which machines had recently paid out a 'jackpot.'

"Ameristar knew which video-slot machines were set to pay out at specific return rates and on multiple occasions Ameristar staff tipped off, or otherwise advised and steered Doe toward specific video-slot machines to play or avoid.

     "Ameristar staff would, when Doe was losing money at a particular machine, direct her to another machine where she usually had a prompt 'win.' Ameristar staff would give machines Doe was using a 'rub' for luck.

     "Ameristar staff would watch Doe gamble, including the cashiers who would leave the 'cage' to watch. Ameristar used multiple versions of the same 'game' with different 'pay-back' percentages, concealed from Doe and distorting her understanding of how the machines work.

"Ameristar employees would guard machines Doe was using so that she could leave to use the bathroom and come back to the same machines."

Colombo claims that Doe became so notorious at the casino that its "floor staff would monitor Doe's gambling to predict when she would next be coming in, and seek to change their own work schedules so as to be working when Doe was gambling in order to personally profit from her tips."

Ameristar cashed $3 million in checks for Doe in 2011 alone, Colombo claims.

Although the casino "has policies and procedures to detect and aid problem gamblers," and knew Doe was a problem gambler, it "intentionally ignored its own policies, and intentionally refused to talk to Doe about her problem gambling," according to the complaint.

"Ameristar's excessive and extraordinary inducement of Doe to gamble, Ameristar's willful blindness to the source of Doe's funds she used for gambling, and Ameristar's failure to follow its own policies caused or substantially contributed to Doe's embezzlement from plaintiff and plaintiff's transfer of funds to Ameristar," the complaint states.

Colombo Candy seeks restitution, an accounting of all the money Doe blew at the casino, and damages for aiding and abetting, fraudulent transfer and unjust enrichment.

     It is represented by Jill Robb Ackerman with Baird Holm of Omaha, Neb.

 

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/04/12/56639.htm

 

 

Casinos are mostly about losing

13 January 2013
Casinos are mostly about losing


By Kurt Rogahn

The people enthused about bringing a casino to Cedar Rapids sure talk a winning game. But everything they promise — the jobs, the money for education, social needs, the arts, and community development and beautification — depends on just one thing: A steady parade of people willing to lose money. Losers, they are. Losers, like my younger brother, Mark, of Oconomowoc, Wis.


To look at Mark, you wouldn’t think him a loser: Maintained a career in sales for years, driving to work in a black Lincoln Continental. Always wore laundered shirts — no wash-and-wear for him. Still, he lived a double life, over many years, with huge appetites on his dark side — first for alcohol, then for drugs, and then, for something else.

While Mark’s wife, Michele, underwent treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the University of Nebraska in summer 2006, he crossed the river to the casino at Council Bluffs. If he regularly visited casinos before then, it’s beyond me. After Michele died that fall, Mark’s casino visits accelerated: Milwaukee, Chicago, Hammond, Ind., and Las Vegas.

To fund his losing over the next three years, Mark drained Michele’s substantial retirement accounts, and then his own. Then, without permission, he tapped the trust fund he and I and our sister had set up for a fourth Rogahn sibling. Mark’s fortunes roller-coastered. He lost his job selling forklifts.

Bank deposit slips indicate substantial winnings, confirmed in notices from the Internal Revenue Service: He saw one in July 2009 demanding nearly $40,000 in back taxes for 2006, but by then the money was gone.

He never saw the notice for $69,000 in 2007 taxes, or nearly $85,000 for 2008. Those came to my house, here in Cedar Rapids, after his suicide in April 2010. At his death, Mark was immediate past president of his church, a big mainstream congregation.

Not everyone lives a double life. Not everyone who drinks is alcoholic — though Mark was — and not everyone who visits a casino has a gambling problem. Still, problem gamblers do exist in sufficient numbers that the society in which I grew up confined gambling to Las Vegas and few places else.

Today, we not only forget why that was so, but we have enfeebled our aspirations. We used to build communities by attracting the means to provide jobs and produce goods and services people need.

Yet what passes for economic development in the March 5 casino vote depends instead on losers losing big.

To build a casino in Cedar Rapids will make it easier for losers to lose, and that’s what that industry is counting on. In gambling, the odds favor the house. Any charitable contributions are but a fraction of the losers’ losses. We all like nice things for our community, but the benefits are indecent if we rely on indecent means to obtain them.

I’m voting no in March. If I had the power, I wouldn’t vote for any more casinos in Iowa.

I care too much for losers.

l Kurt Rogahn, onetime reporter and assistant opinion page editor of The Gazette, is a senior proposal writer for Pearson Education in Iowa City. The views are his own. Comments: Kurt.Rogahn@hotmail.com

http://thegazette.com/2013/01/13/casinos-are-mostly-about-losing/

Who is profiting from crime? Casinos?

Nebraska State Senator Brenda Council of Omaha gambled with funds that were not hers at an unnamed casino in Kansas City.  

Casinos are financial institutions with access to patrons' financial records.

They know patrons' financial assets.

Why aren't they compelled to return stolen funds?

In Kansas City - Was it Harrahs [now Caesars]? Ameristar? Isle of Capri? Argosy? Hollywood Casino?

If they are such responsible businesses, why aren't they named? Why aren't they returning stolen funds?

What about Frank Fahrenkopf's "Responsible Gambling Program" that no employees know about?   

Gambling addicts need help to win better lives
Posted: Thursday, September 20, 2012

In pleading guilty earlier this week to misdemeanor public records violations, state Sen. Brenda Council of Omaha declared she was paying the price for her problem gambling. Council’s assertion falls short of the truth because problem gambling is not a victimless illness.

In addition to the addicted gambler, victims can include family members, friends and organizations and, in Council’s case, donors who supported her re-election campaign for the Nebraska Legislature.

Council reportedly gambled away $63,000 in campaign donations, but failed to report the withdrawals from her campaign fund. The state senator must pay court expenses and $500 in fines, but those penalties pale in comparison to the real cost of her gambling problem. That will be evident on Nov. 6 when voters in her Omaha district must decide whether to re-elect Council to four more years, or send her opponent, Ernie Chambers, back to the Legislature.

To her credit, Council has already repaid $36,000 and is seeking treatment, but those actions won’t repair the scars to her reputation.

If there is a silver lining in this terrible cloud, it is that Council’s case shines a light on problem gambling. Her actions help us to understand how the addiction harms others as it runs its course.

No right-thinking person would take food and clothing from their family, betray the trust of friends who loan them money, or steal and embezzle. However, these are symptoms of a gambling addict heading for rock bottom.

Is there a problem gambler in your life? Consider these signs:

- They’re preoccupied with gambling and always thinking of ways to get more money to gamble.

- Wagers grow larger as the person attempts to achieve more excitement.

- Repeated attempts to cut back or stop gambling fail.

- Gambling becomes an escape from family, work or emotional distress. The addict lies to family, therapists and colleagues to conceal the extent of the problem.

- After losing, the gambler returns another day to get even.

- Forgery, fraud, theft or embezzlement become ways to finance the habit.

- The gambler loses a spouse, job or career opportunity because of the need to gamble, and borrows from friends, family, even strangers to pay off catastrophic losses.

Council said she is ready to move on. We wish her well in her recovery, and we advise suffering families not to wait. Confront your problem gambler. It’s not a victimless addiction, and it won’t end without help.

http://www.kearneyhub.com/news/opinion/gambling-addicts-need-help-to-win-better-lives/article_644a20a0-0336-11e2-a99c-0019bb2963f4.html



Campaign bank accounts and casino records subpoenaed by the Attorney General’s office indicate Council withdrew $63,052.56 in campaign funds to gamble at a casino in Kansas City, Kansas.

http://nebraskaradionetwork.com/2012/09/18/sen-council-pleads-guilty-admits-to-a-gambling-problem-audio/

 

'Campaign gambling losses'

Short take: 'Campaign gambling losses'

Brenda Council

Brenda Council, a Democratic member of the Nebraska Senate.

Brenda Council should have talked to Robin Wright-Jones.

Ms. Council, a Democrat in the Nebraska Senate, last week pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of abuse of public records. Records suggested that Ms. Council may have used nearly $100,000 in campaign funds to gamble at casinos.

Ms. Council said she had "borrowed" the money from the campaign account and was in the process of paying it back. She said she was receiving counseling for a gambling addiction.

Ms. Council did not report the gambling expenses on campaign disclosure forms, which is where Ms. Wright-Jones' advice could have helped. Ms. Wright-Jones is a member of the Missouri Senate, though she lost a primary bid last month.

When she got in trouble last year for spending campaign money on a shopping spree at the Galleria, she solved the problem by brazenly reporting the expenditures for items like "campaign shoes," "campaign clothing" and "campaign watch batteries."

If Ms. Council had listed "campaign gambling losses," she might have gotten away with it. Unless Nebraska is tougher than Missouri. It would be hard not to be.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/short-take-campaign-gambling-losses/article_213d03a2-01fa-5a93-a1e3-4864d2fb31f7.html

Understanding Gambling Addiction

Understanding Gambling Addiction
Posted: Sep 13, 2012
Reporter: Roger Hamer



Nebraska State Sen. Brenda Council really did "gamble with the good life," her own, and it may cost her dearly. Council succumbed to an addiction that affects three of every 100 Nebraskans.
Council has run the gamut of high and lows recently, from backing President Obama at the Democratic Convention to the admission of a gambling problem where she withdrew $63,000 from her campaign funds.

Dr. Jeff Snell is the director of psychology at Quality Living Inc. and says an addiction stems from a release of dopamine. "It involves chemicals in the brain that are associated with the reward and re-enforcement systems. It's a sense of pleasure and excitement and those chemicals are released within our brain."

Giving us a sense of euphoria when we win. Addicts want to recreate that sensation. But that compulsiveness usually winds up costing more than expected and usually leads to a downward spiral.

"To try and recoup your losses and re-win back the money that you've lost is often that vicious cycle that people get into where by they wind up gambling money that they really don't have," Dr. Snell said.

Leading to a hope that one hit will cure all. "There's the expectation that if I just get lucky I can win back all of this that I've lost and it won't be a problem and then I'll quit and it just compounds the losses," Dr. Snell said.

The vast majority of us can walk away, but for some the compulsion to gamble overpowers the logical reasons to stop. "Anyone can be vulnerable to these issues."

Most of the treatment for a gambling addiction is through counseling and peer group sessions. Brenda Council said in a statement she is enrolled in a treatment program and intends to pay back all the money.


http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/Understanding-Gambling-Adiction-169687686.html

Casino gambling costs outweigh benefits

Casino gambling costs outweigh benefits

McCook Daily Gazette
The Legislature cut spending enough to erase a $1 billion budget deficit last year without raising taxes.

Things are looking better this year, thanks to strong farm income and relatively low unemployment, but as usual, lawmakers are looking for ways to bring in more money in relatively painless ways.

One example is State Sen. Paul Schumacher, who is thinking about sponsoring a constitutional amendment to allow casino gambling so Nebraska won't lose revenue to neighboring states.

He has a point; he estimates that Nebraskans provided about $70 million of the $284 million gambling tax revenue that Iowa and South Dakota brought in last year. He said Nebraskans lose about $300 million annually in out-of-state casinos each year.

But the key word there, is "lost." In other words, Nebraska should take advantage of losers so that other states can't.

"Gambling is a tax on ignorance," said one observer. "I find it socially revolting when the government preys on the ignorance of its citizenry. When the government makes it easy for people to take their Social Security checks and pull [slot machine] handles ... it is not government at its best."

The speaker knows a thing or two about gambling; Warren Buffett has played the odds for decades and made himself and other key investors billionaires in the process.

As another financial whiz puts it, gambling is a tax on the poor and people who can't do math -- studies show that people in lower-income ZIP codes spend four times as much as anyone else on lottery tickets.

And, even if they win, the price is high. Lotto winners have a divorce rate four times the national average; and 65 percent of Lotto winners are bankrupt within 15 years.

The fact that Nebraska's lottery system includes funding for treatment of problem gamblers -- provide the cure with the disease -- is an illustration of the immorality of state-sponsored gambling.

While Schumacher's possible constitutional amendment might help recover some of the $70 million in tax revenues now going to other states, expanded casino gambling would cost far more than it was worth in social problems, not to mention expanding them statewide, to places like Southwest Nebraska, relatively free of gambling fallout.

While supporters point out the good that gambling revenues do -- educational innovation and environmental projects as examples -- gambling is not a reliable source of income for vital services.

For example, Powerball lottery organizers plan to double ticket prices to $2 on Jan. 15, increasing the odds of winning by an infinitesimal amount while maneuvering for position with rival Mega Millions, which is staying at $1 for now.

While Nebraska does allow keno, horse racing and a lottery, voters turned down video keno in 2006 and two casino gambling proposals in 2004.

If casino gambling makes it to the ballot this time, they should turn it down again.

American Amusements sues Nebraska

AMERICAN AMUSEMENTS CO. v. NEBRASKA DEPT. OF REV.
282 Neb. 908
AMERICAN AMUSEMENTS CO., A NEBRASKA CORPORATION, AND GREATER AMERICA DISTRIBUTING, INC., A NEBRASKA CORPORATION, APPELLEES,v.NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, A NEBRASKA STATE AGENCY, ET AL., APPELLANTS.
No. S-10-804.
Supreme Court of Nebraska.

This appeal focuses on the legality of a video gaming device known as Bankshot, which was developed by American Amusements Co. (American Amusements) and distributed by Greater America Distributing, Inc. (collectively appellees). Appellees filed this lawsuit after the State seized two Bankshot devices as alleged illegal gambling devices, seeking a declaration that they were not illegal. The state agencies and officers who were named as defendants filed a counterclaim seeking a declaration that Bankshot was a "game of chance" and therefore an unlawful gambling device. Following a bench trial, the district court for Lancaster County found that Bankshot was a game of chance when played in some modes, but not when played in others. The court declined the request for injunctive relief by the named state agencies and officers, who now appeal from the judgment. We affirm.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

1. BACKGROUND
John Fox is the president of American Amusements. In mid-2007, prior to marketing Bankshot, Fox asked a Nebraska State Patrol officer, Don Littrell, to assess the legality of the prototype. Fox understood that Littrell was the State of Nebraska's gambling device expert, and Littrell agreed that he was the State Patrol's "go-to-guy" in this area. Littrell advised Fox and American Amusements that the initial prototype of Bankshot was not legal, because the game did not involve a predominance of player skill. American Amusements then redesigned Bankshot and again asked Littrell to assess its legality. Littrell recommended submitting Bankshot to a third-party testing facility and suggested two such facilities: Eclipse Compliance Testing and Gaming Laboratories International. In late summer 2007, Eclipse Compliance Testing tested the device and issued a written report in October 2007 concluding that Bankshot was predominantly a game of skill and therefore was a legal device in Nebraska.

Around January 2008, Bankshot games were placed into service in Nebraska. As many as 430 Bankshot games were located in 143 different Nebraska cities. After the Bankshot games had been in place for approximately 1 year, American Amusements received notice from the Nebraska Department of Revenue that additional testing of Bankshot was necessary, and American Amusements agreed to provide a Bankshot device for the additional testing. But before it did so, the State seized two Bankshot devices and submitted the devices for testing at both Eclipse Compliance Testing and Gaming Laboratories International. In a letter dated April 14, 2009, the director of the Charitable Gaming Division stated that the purpose of this testing "was to obtain opinions on whether Bank[s]hot was primarily a game of chance, and therefore illegal, or primarily a game of skill." The testing again concluded that Bankshot was primarily a game of skill and was thus legal in Nebraska. At least one of the Bankshot devices submitted for testing used the same version of software that was in use at the time of trial in this case.

In September 2009, the State seized two more Bankshot devices. At the time of trial, these devices had not been returned. On September 17, appellees filed this declaratory judgment action, naming as defendants the Nebraska Department of Revenue; the Nebraska State Patrol; Col. Bryan Tuma, the superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol; Doug Ewald, the Nebraska Tax Commissioner; and Jon Bruning, the Nebraska Attorney General (collectively the State).


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Church: Casinos beat out bingo

Church: Casinos beat out bingo
By Asha Anchan
World-Herald staff writer

Omahan Celeste Smith always knew which chair was hers when she walked into Holy Name Catholic Church's Bingo Hall.

It was the same retro style and army green color as hundreds of others, but it had a bright orange sticker on the bottom, reading 'Celeste.' She stuck it on when she first started playing there nearly 17 years ago, and she said people took it seriously.

"Nobody was ever going to be sitting in my chair," said Smith, 55.

When Smith came to the hall on Thursday, however, it wasn't to play bingo. She was there to buy her chair — and any other trinkets she could grab to remember her days there.

Holy Name's Bingo Hall closed during the last week in October. Volunteers transformed the space to mimic a large-scale garage sale.

Now, long tables loaded with priced items such as red globe lamps, crockpots, retired bingo cards, cash registers and TVs are part of a closeout sale that continues today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with all proceeds benefiting Holy Name parish and school.

Bingo started at Holy Name Church on Fontenelle Boulevard in the 1950s, and regular games started in 1965. The games moved to Hartman Hall at 60th and Hartman Streets in 1990. Bingo once generated significant revenue for the parish and school, but a recent drop in players dramatically affected profits.

"When casinos opened, we saw numbers decrease," said Colleen Peterson, Holy Name's director of development. "This isn't anything that we ever wanted to do and it took 10 years of lost revenue to get to this point . . . We couldn't justify the business cost to the revenues that were coming in."

In the booming days of bingo, Peterson said, players would pack the hall to its 390 capacity on a good night, holding four events each week. In the waning days, crowds varied from 30 to 100 players during the two days a week that bingo was held.

Smith will have fond memories of the games both in their heyday and with fewer players. She used bingo as a form of stress relief.

When Smith started playing, her son had been diagnosed with cancer and bingo became her outlet during the week.

"It's almost like I lived for Thursday to come so I could go to Holy Name and see all these people that I hadn't seen all week," Smith said. "When my son passed away of cancer, I got back with familiar faces every week . . . It was the best therapy in the world."

She said she has cried a little bit over bingo's demise at Holy Name.

Greeting visitors on Friday, sale worker Jane LaHood pointed out a large desk, chairs and the concession-stand sign that are still for sale. She noted the change in atmosphere at the hall.

"It's bittersweet," said LaHood, a longtime volunteer at Holy Name's Humble Jumble thrift store.

But seeing longtime players and hearing their stories makes it more sweet than bitter, she said.

Volunteers from Holy Name's Humble Jumble store organized the sale, which brought in about $2,000 on Thursday. A total from Friday wasn't available. They hope to sell out by the time they close on Saturday.

In the meantime, the volunteers are mingling with curious shoppers and recounting their own memories of the hall.

Jane's husband, Tom, remembers a man who used to play with 18 bingo cards at once — and no chips to mark what numbers had been called. He was a "bingo savant," Tom LaHood said. He wore a red hat and always remembered what numbers were called, even when he made a trip to the concession stand during a game.

"It was a way to spend an evening or afternoon with the possibility of winning," said Tom, remembering the serious bingo players who played mostly for cash.

The tables were built extra-wide to hold multiple bingo cards, concessions and the lucky charms many players lined up next to their cards, hoping to up their odds of winning.

"The ages of the people that played was older. Now the younger kids want something faster, but at the time it was the social thing to do," Tom said.

In the early days, Holy Name parishioners volunteered at the games, breeding a sense of parish unity among church members and families.

But everything eventually changes.

Hartman Hall was recently sold and the new owner plans to maintain the building as an indoor storage facility.

"All this stuff is changing, but something else will come up," said Barb Rutten, another Humble Jumble store volunteer.

From the first day she hit the jackpot to the day she brought home her designated chair, Smith said, the bingo hall will always be a place that holds many of her memories.

"I just wanted to get my little piece of Holy Name," Smith said. "To go in there after all this time is surreal — that was my home away from home."

Senator renews casino talk

Senator renews casino talk
By Leslie Reed
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN — Although there's little momentum yet, state lawmakers are beginning to toy with taking another run at legalizing casino gambling in Nebraska.

It was 2006 when voters last took up the issue, rejecting video slot machines. Approval of a constitutional amendment would be required before casinos could be allowed in Nebraska.

At an interim study hearing Friday, a state lawmaker said he estimated, from the share of license plates at Council Bluffs casinos, that Nebraskans drop an estimated $321 million a year on gambling there.

State Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus calculated that state and local governments in Iowa collect about $70 million in tax revenues from Nebraskans who gamble in Council Bluffs.

Schumacher said he sees no "immediate move" to try to put casino gambling on next year's ballot, but he thinks the idea should be kept on the table in case Nebraska continues to face state budget shortfalls.

"There's one whole lot of money leaving the state, and we're giving Iowa a subsidy of up to $70 million a year on those three (casino) operations in Council Bluffs," he said. "That's a statement of fact."

Gambling opponents questioned Schumacher's figures.

Pat Loontjer, executive director of Gambling With the Good Life, an anti-gambling group based in Omaha, said she is prepared for new efforts to legalize casinos in Nebraska.

"They're testing the waters," she said.

Schumacher is the founder and president of Lotto Nebraska, which runs keno lotteries on behalf of 100 rural communities in a group called Nebraska Cooperative Government. He was a supporter of proposed constitutional amendments rejected by voters in 2004 that would have legalized casinos and allowed bars and keno parlors to have slot and video poker machines.

State Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber, who is chairman of the legislative committee that deals with gambling issues, said he introduced Legislative Resolution 299 at Schumacher's request. It was one of three gambling study hearings conducted Friday by the General Affairs Committee.

The others dealt with proposals to prop up Nebraska's tottering horse racing industry, including a study on whether horse races should be held in conjunction with the Nebraska State Fair.

Karpisek and Schumacher both cautioned that there are many obstacles to expanding gambling in Nebraska. Keno operators and others who rely on existing forms of gambling likely would oppose more competition.

In addition, the gambling landscape has changed, with Iowa adding more casinos, and Las Vegas and Reno, Nev., taking severe hits in the recession. Schumacher said Nevada casino operators have lost interest in Nebraska.

Still, Karpisek said Nebraska should "absolutely" consider whether it could land a share of casino gambling revenues.

"Two-thirds of our population lives within 50 miles of a casino — we already have the social ills that come from the casinos," he said.

Loretta Fairchild, a Nebraska Wesleyan University economist who specializes in public finance, took issue with the quick calculations presented at Friday's hearing.

She said lawmakers should not proceed without conducting a "real study" of gambling's costs and benefits.

"They can't just have a legislative aide thumb through the reports that are already out there and result in an even-handed study," she said.

Fairchild said she was made aware of Friday's hearing by the opposition group Gambling With the Good Life but that she did not represent the group in her testimony.

Schumacher said his report was based on revenue statistics from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission's 2011 report, which reported $1.37 billion revenue for Iowa racetracks and casinos and $428 million in revenue for the three casinos in Council Bluffs.

Based on surveys pro-gambling forces took of license plates in casino parking lots in 2004, Schumacher said he assumed 75 percent of the Council Bluffs gamblers came from Nebraska and 75 percent of the casinos' revenues came from Nebraska gamblers. He then calculated that 75 percent of the state and local taxes paid came from Nebraskans' wallets.

Loontjer called Schumacher's calculations "irresponsible."

"There's no way to know if those cars belonged to people who worked there, to people who went for the buffets or shows," she said. "There's no way to know how much money they gambled."

Nebraska: Gambling Addiction

Nebraska treats 243 for gambling addiction in last fiscal year; average debt is $28,000


LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska provided gambling addiction treatment to 243 people during the last fiscal year.

The state Department of Health and Human Services reports the average gambling debt of those receiving treatment in 2009-2010 was about $28,000. About 60 percent of the people receiving treatment services were men, and the average age of those in treatment was 43. About 70 percent had full-time jobs.

Scot Adams is the director of the Division of Behavioral Health. He says gambling can be a serious problem from some people and can destroy their families and their finances.

Funding for the state's Gamblers Assistance Program comes from state lottery proceeds and the Health Care Cash Fund. Treatment services include crisis intervention, individual and family counseling, and group therapy.

Former casino employee faces theft sentence

Former casino employee faces theft sentence

NIOBRARA, Neb. (KTIV) --- A former employee of a Santee Sioux Tribe owned casino will spend a year in prison for stealing from the casino.

Federal prosecutors say Bianco White, of Niobrara stole over $13,000 from the casino's slot machines while working for the casino.

White was also ordered to pay over $13,000 in restitution to the Ohiya Casino and serve three years supervised released.



Just wondering: Tribal Casinos = A Sovereign Nation that doesn't pay taxes, doesn't pay its fair share to support government. Americans taxpayers it appears paid for the prosecution. Who is paying for the incarceration? American taxpayers again? And who will pay for the 'supervised release' ?