Poll Position: Casino gambling for education?
Last week, the executive committee of the Georgia GOP approved five questions to be placed on the party’s July 31 primary ballot. Ballot questions from the Democratic Party of Georgia are forthcoming. So, if you vote in this summer’s primaries, the T-SPLOST won’t be the only policy question you get to tackle.
The most surprising question to come out of the GOP concerns casino gambling. The question will read:
Should Georgia have casino gambling with funds going to education?
It will be the first time in 20 years — since the referendum that paved the way for the lottery and, in turn, the HOPE scholarship — that the issue of gambling has been on Georgia ballots. This one won’t be binding but the result, and how it comes to be used by policy makers, will be very intriguing. All the more so because it’s unclear who wanted the question put on the ballot: casino friends or casino foes.
Should Georgia have casino gambling with funds going to education?
- Yes (103 Votes)
- No (25 Votes)
- Undecided (3 Votes)
Total Voters: 131
Loading ...My guess is that the friends are behind it. Peach Pundit’s Charlie Harper theorizes that Republican state leaders who are reluctant to irritate social conservatives by publicly supporting an expansion of gambling would use a resounding “yes” vote as an excuse “to either support or ‘look the other way’ on the approval of video casino gaming operated by the Georgia Lottery Corporation.” (The Georgia Lottery Corporation has the authority to expand gambling but is loath to do so without the explicit or implicit support of the governor and other high-ranking officials.)
So, this week’s Poll Position question is the same one Georgia Republican voters will face in July: Should Georgia have casino gambling with funds going to education? Answer in the nearby poll and in the comments thread below.
(Note: This is the first in an occasional series of Poll Position posts between now and July 31 that will address questions on the Republican and/or Democratic primary ballots.)
– By Kyle Wingfield
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105 comments Add your comment
Chuck
May 25th, 2012
12:28 pm
That was a very bad analogy, when you kill someone, you are violating their rights, that is wrong. If you are snorting Coke at your house, you are only hurting yourself, no one else’s business. If you steal to get your drugs, then you have infringed on someone else’s right and you are to be dealt with.
iggy
May 25th, 2012
12:51 pm
TSplost is a gamble we definitely cant afford.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
May 25th, 2012
12:52 pm
If you are snorting Coke
omg, you didn’t capitalize that did you? Get under your bed, now! A swat team of guys dressed in red and their attack polar bears are incoming!
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
May 25th, 2012
12:54 pm
iggy, do i want my property value to skyrocket as businesses come looking for land close by to erect stores to sell their wares to the gambling public?
Nahhhh
Peadawg
May 25th, 2012
1:17 pm
“To be clear, are we talking about video machines only, a la the Harrah’s in Cherokee”
It’s not just video machines anymore. They have a poker room and table games now.
Dusty
May 25th, 2012
1:17 pm
Noooo, the government should have nothing to do with gambling. There is no excuse for gambling.. It is nothing but habit forming stupidity, a way to throw away your money.
Why should government encourage stupidily in the name of education? That is a travesty,.
All you people saying freedom means lack of reason which allows anything to go would only encourage crime. Why not just say you are for crime, lies, drugs, gambling, prostitution because you are one who does all such things and it is your freedom.
Believe it or not, this country was founded by people who had standards, morals and good sense. The fact that many citizens have left those principles far behind does not make it good. It is called deterioration. There’s no other name for it and it smells to high heaven.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
May 25th, 2012
1:24 pm
First they need to get serious about changing the law so card game gambling is legal. That will bring in much more development than just slots.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
May 25th, 2012
1:26 pm
There is no excuse for sports.. It is nothing but habit forming stupidity, a way to throw away your money.
There is no excuse for pornography.. It is nothing but habit forming stupidity, a way to throw away your money.
There is no excuse for alcohol.. It is nothing but habit forming stupidity, a way to throw away your money.
There is no excuse for drugs.. It is nothing but habit forming stupidity, a way to throw away your money.
There is no excuse for religion.. It is nothing but habit forming stupidity, a way to throw away your money.
There is no excuse for driving.. It is nothing but habit forming stupidity, a way to throw away your money.
Jefferson
May 25th, 2012
1:27 pm
Pea – real cards and human dealers ?
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
May 25th, 2012
1:28 pm
Dusty wants to control our lives and push her morals on us.
A true conservative!
Chuck
May 25th, 2012
1:28 pm
Dusty, sorry to disappoint, but I have never taken any illegal drugs in my life, or partaken of prostitution, not because they are illegal but because I DI NOT WANT TO. I have gambled and I enjoy it. I am a full grown MAN and I do not need to be lead around by nanny state momma and poppa, telling me what is right or wrong, if I am not hurting anyone but myself. You may need the governement to tell you not to eat fatty foods or drink beer because they are bad for you, but some of us are not that weak willed.
Jefferson
May 25th, 2012
1:28 pm
Carefull when you exit that horse, its mighty high.
Peadawg
May 25th, 2012
1:31 pm
“Pea – real cards and human dealers ?”
Not in the poker room. Everyone has their own touch screen w/ 1 big screen in the middle for the flop. Pretty neat. Dealers and real cards are coming in he Summer according to the locals.
Real dealers for blackjack but they have screens as well…wouldn’t touch those w/ a 10 foot poll.
Chuck
May 25th, 2012
1:37 pm
Dusty
If I am not mistaken in 1776 when they country was started, gambling and prostitution were legal. Those crazy people Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Payne, Adams with all their evil FREEDOM.
Chuck
May 25th, 2012
1:39 pm
I love how many people, Dems & Repubs, claim to love freedom, as long as you use your freedom to believe and do things just like them.
Dusty
May 25th, 2012
1:40 pm
Yeah Finn,
Let’s make everything a gamble. Tiddly Winks, checkers, croquet, and… make Lanier Islands a gamble. If you hit the right time slot you get to throw rocks at Finn’s House. Think how business would improve with a chance like that.
Yeah….let’s GAMBLE!!! Just think of all the development!! Anything for the money, honey!
finn mccool
May 25th, 2012
1:41 pm
I suppose xbox games and such are evil to the morally superior folks as well?
Chuck
May 25th, 2012
1:43 pm
Dusty
People already gamble on all those things and more, it is just not legal now. If you ever try to stand on your own 2 feet, without momma/poppa government holding your hands, you would love it. I will BET YOU.
iggy
May 25th, 2012
1:48 pm
If its XXXbox then yes…
Dusty
May 25th, 2012
1:49 pm
Chuck,
I don’t doubt that there were people “back then” who did their “thing”.. But they were not the ones to form a constitution for a country that stood for liberty in government, not freedom to be low as dirt.
The greatest freedom in the world is to have a conscience and a faith that leads to higher values. That is why so many people have come to our country and why so many yearn to be here.
You can abuse freedom all you want with your excuses. But abuse leads to deterioration as I have already mentioned. Let us not lose real freedom for financial progress along with character defamation. Those that come after us deserve better.
Dusty
May 25th, 2012
1:52 pm
Finn,
I don’t advocate gambling for the morally superior (whomever they are ) or the immoral inferiors (whomever they are are). Both are throwing away their money. Why should I advocate for stupidity?
Chuck
May 25th, 2012
1:56 pm
You have a conscience and faith and that is great, and you have a the freedom in the world to have those things. However as soon as you start trying to impose your conscience and faith on me and anyone else, then you are violating my rights and freedom. In this country I am suppose to have a right to have my own conscience and faith, but you seem to think that I shouldn’t have that right unless I agree with you. If there is Casino’s put in Georgia and you do not agree with them, then you do not have to go to them. You live your life and let other people live theirs.
md
May 25th, 2012
1:56 pm
“Anyone who voted YES is a socialist!”
Hardly…….spending one’s money in a casino is a choice………
Chuck
May 25th, 2012
1:57 pm
It is their money, you should STAY OUT OF IT. You seem to have a God complex, it is none of your business what other adults do.
md
May 25th, 2012
2:00 pm
“If you are snorting Coke at your house, you are only hurting yourself, no one else’s business.”
As long as the addicts don’t end up on public assistance…..which is where many invariably end up.
No different than any other drug including alcohol.
I have no problem with people making choices as long as they don’t come running for assistance when the crap hits the fan.
@@
May 25th, 2012
2:16 pm
Child abuse and neglect
The National Gambling Impact Study Commission reported: “Children of compulsive gamblers are often prone to suffer abuse, as well as neglect, as a result of parental problem or pathological gambling.”
In Indiana, a review of the state’s gaming commission records revealed that 72 children were found abandoned on casino premises during a 14-month period.
Children have died as a direct result of adult gambling problems. In Louisiana and South Carolina, children died after being locked in hot cars for hours while their caretakers gambled. An Illinois mother was sentenced to prison for suffocating her infant daughter in order to collect insurance money to continue gambling.
Cases of child abandonment at Foxwoods, the nation’s largest casino in Ledyard, Conn., became so commonplace that authorities were forced to post signs in the casino’s parking lots warning parents not to leave children in cars unattended.
Kids don’t get a vote.
DannyX
May 25th, 2012
2:18 pm
“Hardly…….spending one’s money in a casino is a choice”
The Georgia lottery is a state run business with profits going to the state, not private enterprise. Casinos in Las Vegas are not run by the state.
Update:
Socialism YES- 43
Sharia Law NO- 14
Looks like the socialists are dominating.
The nanny
May 25th, 2012
2:22 pm
Really do we need the nanny state government to tell us whether we can gamble or not ? Government keeps sticking it’s intrusive nose into more an more of our lives! Next fines for not wearing sunscreen? Monthly weigh ins for obese people? ID to purchase fattening food? Can’t happen? Sure it can’t keep the blinders on!
JB
May 25th, 2012
2:23 pm
@@…………….sadly, it’s not just casinos. It’s everywhere. The mall, The hair salon, the movies.
Dusty
May 25th, 2012
2:24 pm
Enter your comments here
Barry O
May 25th, 2012
2:26 pm
LOL people gambled on putting a guy with no experience doing anything into the WH running the most powerful country in the world ! Losing hand !
Don Abernethy
May 25th, 2012
2:28 pm
Next they will try to use education as an excuse to sell and tax pot. This country is so immoral that nothing surprises me.Maybe prostitution could be made legal and taxed for education. We are now drinking booze 24/7 maybe that will help education. Most of the politicians refuse to tackle the real problem namely the deficit. Just being able to live in this country that has been over run with diversity and gambling makes life here a gamble.
JDW
May 25th, 2012
2:30 pm
Kyle…this one is not nearly as much fun as the other…
I am a bit ambivalent on the casino question. Yes it might raise a bit of cash but I tend to prefer my casinos in Vegas. That way “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” along with the rest of the seedy underside that business tends to attract.
Dusty
May 25th, 2012
2:34 pm
Chuck,
Expressing my rights of free speech does in no way stop you from doing what you want to do. I am not making laws but expressing my opinion. That is what this is, an OPINION blog.
But expressing mine does not intimidate yours. You surely do get upset just because someone does not agree with you. Too bad ’cause freedom of speech is for everybody, not just you.
md
May 25th, 2012
2:36 pm
“The Georgia lottery is a state run business with profits going to the state, not private enterprise. Casinos in Las Vegas are not run by the state.”
And??
It’s still a choice to play……no one is forced to play the lottery or go to vegas…….unlike forcing folks to pay taxes for ideological programs……..
More like donating to the PTA than vegas……
@@
May 25th, 2012
2:38 pm
JB:
It’s everywhere. The mall, The hair salon, the movies.
And in those instances, we’re left to question why. When it comes to gambling, the reason is obvious.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
May 25th, 2012
2:42 pm
Don’t tell Dusty that George Washington had a distillery at Mount Vernon. Her head may explode.
Rafe Hollister
May 25th, 2012
2:44 pm
I look at it as a taxpayer rebate. Obviously most of the people who play are poor and most of the poor are on government assistance. We must be giving them too much assistance, if they can afford to gamble with their assets, so it is just a way for the government to get that over payment back and waste it on some other government expense. Cynical, yes, politically correct, no, but true.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
May 25th, 2012
2:45 pm
drinking is legal, driving is legal. combining the two is illegal and kills people.
gambling can ruin a life too but at least you aren’t killing unsuspecting travelers. (Yes gambling can ruin entire families but they see that coming and have options to get out.)
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
May 25th, 2012
2:46 pm
“All he has to offer now are tired political attacks,” said Amanda Henneberg, a spokeswoman. “With no record to run on, no new ideas and flailing attacks like these, it’s no surprise the Obama campaign has had such a tough week.”
Yep, and we’re gonna bury him.
Rafe Hollister
May 25th, 2012
2:51 pm
DannyX
I kinda agree with your socialism theory, but it is REVERSE socialism. Wealth redistribution from the poor to the state to benefit the wealthy. It is a free country, if the poor voluntarily elect to get involved I have no problem with it.
DannyX
May 25th, 2012
2:54 pm
“And??”
I love how small government conservatives can find 10,000 ways to bad mouth “socialism” until it benefits them. “Privatize” they say. “The government can’t do anything right,” they scream. Obama is a socialist, they yell at the top of their lungs. “Government shouldn’t be in the healthcare business.” Blah, blah, blah.
The highly profitable “socialist” Georgia Bulldogs football team is another favorite of the so-called “free market” conservatives.
Jefferson
May 25th, 2012
3:08 pm
The GOP mindset is the loser.
Rafe Hollister
May 25th, 2012
3:19 pm
The key word you are missing Danny is “voluntary”. If you want to volunteer your money to be redistributed I have no problem, just do not volunteer or legislate that mine is redistributed.
md
May 25th, 2012
3:26 pm
Voluntary Danny, as in “choices”……….that is where you seem to be having a problem with your comparison to socialism.
Taxes, on the other hand are not voluntary. (actually they are, but that choice also has consequences).
md
May 25th, 2012
3:28 pm
“Wealth redistribution from the poor to the state to benefit the wealthy”
Not exactly……the only requirement is a “B” average…..so it benefits all income classes as long as one takes advantage of assistance program #1…….for Danny, that would be the socialistic program called education.
John Q Public
May 25th, 2012
3:55 pm
Aww, heck. Let’s legalize prostitution. At least I get something for my money.
Michael H. Smith
May 25th, 2012
4:04 pm
Not only no but “ABSOLUTELY HELL NO” to more gambling money going to fund education!
First: More money doesn’t mean better education or better results for the money spent on education. We spend plenty of money already on education to get only lackluster results. Money is not the where real problem lies.
Secondly: Scholarship and Entitlement are not two different words of one same meaning and Hope was never ever meant to be or become an Education Entitlement.
Thirdly: If I ever get on board to enhance gaming in this state as I did in initiating it by joining with then Gov. Zell Miller and many others to usher in the lottery for the Hope Scholarship, it will be for funding healthcare. Which by the way the Republicans and the Tea Party need to have a healthcare plan in the ready once obumerCare is ruled unconstitutional. Let’s not drop the ball again, only to let these Marxist pick it up on our fumble and run it into the leftwing socialist end zone.
Michael H. Smith
May 25th, 2012
4:31 pm
Let’s make government over regulation illegal. I want a lot more of something for my money.
Rafe Hollister
May 25th, 2012
4:35 pm
md
What I meant by the money winding up with the wealthy, is, a large percentage of the Hope scholarships went to the wealthy. That is why the legislature was crawfishing once again on their promises, when they discussed needs based income limits on Hope qualification last year. They never got that done, but I feel it is coming. With how tuition keeps rising, even the wealthy can not afford to finance their children’s education, if they have multiple children.