Too Many Issues for More Casinos

The original idea was to bring in gambling and casinos for the state of California’s tribes, so that they could support themselves and get out of the cycle of despair that was plaguing many of them. However, now the tribes are getting richer and richer, as are our politicians’ coffers – but there are so many problems with them it is highway robbery.

Now the tribes want to add even more slot machines and casinos to California, which is only going to exacerbate the problem. The costs to California’s society have far outweighed any benefit that the tribes are getting. Gambling addiction is sky high, and consumer protection is a dirty word.

The casino industry is a $7 billion industry, and California’s politicians say that both the tribes and the state need more money. Perhaps if they spent less money on the things that don’t matter they could get away with $7 billion – but maybe that is just too much to ask. The latest group of slot machine compacts that the governor signed adds 22,500 slot machines to an already overloaded state. However, he did it so that they would not give his opponent money in the last election.

They won’t have to have outside auditors, either, which tells you that they will be even less accountable than they are now. The state Senate is voting on the compacts next week, and Californians can only hope that they will take into account the damage that the casinos have already done to the state before they add more.



Back to April Archive or Slot Machines