Check this out. A casino in St Tammany Parish. WDSU.com Channel 6 News. In Slidell. I think it would have to be. It would never fly in Mandeville.
I do not like casinos. I moved to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi in 1991 about 3 months before the big vote to allow casinos. I was there when the first casinos moved into Gulfport and Biloxi. I was also there for alot of the construction as the larger casinos moved in and real estate was renovated. Hotels, condominiums, etc. All of this is good, what I abhor about casinos is the wanton waste of money. Casinos are there for people to throw away money, plain and simple.
If it were just the entertainment side of gambling I would not see it so bad, a group of guys getting around and playing poker or bourre'. Hell I might bring the kids. But gambling can take hold of people and get their blood up making them do things they would not normally do. There is a story we tell about foreclosure sales, though not exactly like gambling the desire to win is the same. A man pulls a dollar out of his pocket and auctions it off. The bidding gets to over $20.00 before people come to their senses. Do not let the excitement get the better of you. It will only cost you money.
Take that excitement and add in all the free alcohol you can consume. Please. This is legal? You have got to be kidding. I want to own one. Candy from a baby is what I call it. Fleecing. You are not even making it a level playing field. The house always wins. Sometimes I have dreams I am an American Indian. Blackfoot I think…
Why not a new Pontchartrain Beach? A couple of safe rides for the kids, a boardwalk with shops and restaurants along the shore over looking the water. I would rather see something like that than a casino. Just my opinion, and you know how opinions are like ughrum! (clearing of throat) everybody's got one and most of them stink. My $.02.
Thank You
Marc
I agree, I am usually against casinos, but many tribes that have opened casinos on their land or former lands have been able to take the money earned and apply it to cultural and language programs that they otherwise would not be able to support. So for that reason, sometimes I do favor them.
I have nothing against American Indians doing better, really in any form. The atrocities against Indians is a black mark in American History. I just don’t like the waste of money. I have been to casinos, you talk to people who lost thousands, and they come every couple of months. It is insanity. If the money actually did something. This situation, from the looks of it, is for revenue. A park or resource of some kind could do the same thing.
Hi Marc,
All great points. I was a casino pit boss for 8 years and the social impact is devastating. There have been a number of studies that supports this. It is often noted that the social impact meaning cost on the community is 1.5-2.5 dollars for every 1 dollar collected in taxes.
I have not seen any recent numbers but at one point Nevada had the nation’s highest suicide rate 12 years in a row. So very sad.
Ericka, Thank you. I remember when video poker was still legal and I would watch the same people lose money each week. One of my co-workers at the time lost his check, then stole some money to try and get out the hole he had just dug, and he had good intentions of putting the money back as soon as he won. The problem was he never did win and lost his job instead. I agree, you said it right. Sad.