Virginia has become like Potterville.
Posted on 03/11/2020 7:53:41 AM PDT by Kaslin
Boosted by pro-gun-control millions in donations by Mike Bloomberg in the last election, newly empowered liberals in Virginia extended their legislative session this past weekend. They enacted sweeping gun control and also broad expansions of gambling, which is backwards from what would help enhance prosperity and freedom.
It will soon be legal in Virginia to bet on football games and other sporting events, except for contests involving Virginia college teams. This unleashes a new, costly addiction for the millions of sports fans in the state who can soon waste their family savings in addition to their precious time.
A misguided ruling by the Supreme Court in 2018 opened the floodgates to the legalization of sports gambling by states, but many states have wisely declined the invitation. Studies have shown that the poor are most hurt by legalized gambling, and they are the least able to afford it.
A total of 15 states currently allow some form of sports gambling, and five other states plus the District of Columbia have passed laws to legalize it. There appears to be a race to the bottom as states compete with each other in facilitating the massive waste of time and money by their residents which such gambling entails.
The Supreme Court ruling in Murphy v. NCAA ignored the obvious vices of legalized sports gambling, which range from corrupting the games to causing people to lose their savings. While justice is supposed to be blind, it should not be blind to the immense harm caused by decisions like this one.
The Court observed that “gambling was largely banned throughout the country” by the end of the 19th century, but then omitted the reasons why. It is corruption of politics was one reason, and gambling will surely corrupt sports too.
For this reason the NCAA, which governs college sports, has long opposed gambling on its games. “The NCAA opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering, which has the potential to undermine the integrity of sports contests and jeopardizes the student-athletes and the intercollegiate athletics community.”
Families, already fed up with how Thanksgiving Day and Christmas have become rituals of senseless watching of football games, can expect financial losses now too. In California, Indian tribes are gathering signatures on petitions to put sports gambling at tribal casinos throughout the state on its ballot in November.
Professional sports leagues used to be strongly opposed to allowing gambling on their games, but greed has led them to search for more sources of revenue, and gambling has that allure. People who bet on games are more likely to watch them, and that may help stem the general decline in television ratings.
The scandal of the Houston Astros’ stealing signs to help them win the World Series a few years back should be sobering enough. Yet Major League Baseball stands now with the NFL and NBA in wanting people gambling on their games.
The Democrat-controlled Virginia legislature also authorized casinos for nearly a half-dozen cities in Virginia, including its state capital of Richmond, provided their residents approve in local referenda. With gambling interests vastly outspending the opposition, it will be difficult for pro-family groups to keep the casinos out of these Virginia towns.
No one keeps statistics about how many young men drop out of school or quit their jobs due to a gambling addiction. But enough of them apparently are for a frequent question to a professional poker player to be something like “I want to quit my job (or school) to become a pro poker player, and I seek advice how.”
Elections do have consequences, and harmful ones to the people of Virginia. The historic city of Richmond, also the seat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, will be invaded by slot machines and roulette wheels thanks to the Democrats who swept in last November.
Meanwhile, the Democrats pushed through irrational gun control, placing a limit of one handgun purchase per 30 days even by law-abiding citizens. In addition, background checks are extended to include all gun sales, except between family members.
Earlier the same legislature passed a so-called red-flag law to authorize a judge or magistrate to seize anyone’s guns based on allegations about instability of the owner. Second Amendment rights are secure in Virginia now only to the extent the judicial system allows it for an individual.
More than 100 towns in Virginia have responded to the liberal push for gun control there by announcing that they will not comply with the unconstitutional provisions. There has even been talk of rural areas breaking away from the Deep State-controlled northern Virginia, where many of the residents either work for the federal government or make big money lobbying it.
The expansion of legalized sports gambling is really hitting my second job hard
Gambling is not a good thing. It can lead to a major addiction that will literally put thousands into bankruptcy. And it’s an opportunity for corruption. Where large amounts of money is being handled, there will be democrats with their fingers stretched into that pile of money, be it the government, unions or casinos and whatever.
In the days of the one armed bandits where one could feed nickels, it was sort of fun. Today there are no large levers to pull and coins have been replaced with a card. Just sit there, give them your money and look stupid doing so.
I suspect the wide availability of sports betting via mobile phone (13 states and climbing fast) is not going to be a good thing for a lot of families.
The first sign of a state in decline is casino gambling.
Very very well argued!
Its one of the more hateful things about liberals! They come into office and their policies destroy legitimate normal economic activity in an area. Their solution! Introduce gambling to replace those lost industries. Substitute a fantasy-based economic activity. Fantasy because its purposely designed to be impossible to win over the long term! It encourages something-for-nothing thinking discourages thrift & reward for work. Fundamentally its a immoral activity for people and as you said opens the doors for social, & political corruption. (I would never ban because I believe people should be free to be stupid!) However the liberals love it!
Are you a bookie for your second job?
“The first sign of a state in decline is casino gambling.”
Churches pushed for legalization of bingo games (which had been going on for a long time, just ignored). Then came the state lottery, which was sold as being for funding for schools.
Then came the push for gambling riverboats. They’d bring in tourists! They’d revive the days of Mark Twain. It would be great! So they passed the law saying that boats actually go out on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers for 90 excursions. Gamblers would have to leave the boat at the end of the trip. That would limit losses.
After a year or two of this, the casinos basically said that actually going out on the river was too dangerous and expensive. Could the riverboats operate just tied to the dock? So this was allowed. But the rivers involved sometimes flood and that can cut into profits if people can’t actually get on the boats. So it was proposed to have casinos built near the river—right next to it, maybe even have some river water sloshing around the foundations, but protected from floods.
Now casinos still have to be in the neighborhood of the rivers. MO is blessed in that virtually all of its population centers are on one river or another so that those who really need to gamble don’t have to drive that far to indulge. Our local casino doesn’t seem to be doing all that well. It has changed hands a couple of times now and the parking lot is rarely filled.
“However the liberals love it!”
Agreed. The lib elitists love it for the reasons you mentioned, the lib useful idiots love it as they are naturally prone to addictions, whether it be gambling, drugs, booze, sex, you name it.
It’s kind of fun to go to a casino on a rez and watch the customers. First thing to be noticed are all the junk cars in the parking lot. Then on the inside the multiple addiction types: having a drink while playing, chain smoking, and not being able to play the machine fast enough.
There could be some truth to your statement. What tends to make this a fact is the dems are now in control and anything they touch soon goes into decline.
Virginia is such a great state with a rich history and proud peoples (the natural born Virginians - not the imported trash for voting purposes).
I used to live in Northern VA before it was taken over by the libtards. Was a great place. Just common and normal. Very good people.
It’s so sad to see a place like VA go into decline.
One of the first things I noticed when I lived in a state that had a lottery was that those in line had no business spending their money on a lottery ticket. The lines consisted almost entirely of people on fixed incomes primarily the elderly. Saw many younger “players” who I would see drive away in junk heaps again not people who should be wasting funds. Truly state lotteries are a tax on the poor! At least its a voluntary tax, you can avoid by not participating.
I call it a “Tax on Stupidity”
More of a collection agent :) JK
Virginia has become like Potterville.
When Mississippi passed legal gambling, they got it done by making the casinos to be on barges so that they were not land based.
One result of this was lots of bank robberies in Miss and Alabama.
Thanks guys.
Since they cheat at cards, getting rid of guns might seem smart to them.
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