As usual your editorial on casino gambling reflects the past and current thinking in South Carolina that we must never move into the 21st century. The attitude of our politicians to keep South Carolina as backward as they can is bad enough. But for The Post and Courier to espouse the same old argument that any form of gambling is going to target the poor and irresponsible is just thinking from the past.
Are we to ignore the reality that if someone wants to gamble he will find a way, no matter the cost or any other obstacle? If you don’t believe that, go to any convenience store and observe who is buying all of those lottery tickets.
Wouldn’t it be something for visitors to Charleston to ride down I-26 through the neck area and see large casinos with hotels and theme park environments rather than the blighted area it now is?
Here’s the problem. If I drop $100 gambling or buying lottery tickets it’s an inconvenience. If someone on the edge drops $100 it is a potential tragedy. The state does not need to prey on the weakest of us for tax revenue. Nor does the state need to encourage the working poor to go over the edge. When SC had video poker it was a total disaster. Casino gambling is a worse idea. If someone has the means to travel to Las Vegas or theCherokee Casino, so be it. But the state does not need to prey on the weakest of us for tax revenue.
BTW, while,ours roads need fixing, SC had a $30M budget surplus and not a single legislator has suggested that a penny of that be used to fix roads. It might be time for legislators to quit catering to every possible interest group and grow up. Start setting priorities as the rest of the real world has to!
I agree. And further, the State actually doesn’t need More Money For Roads. It needs to use the money it has wisely, rather than spending the vast vast bulk of roads money on constructing further new roads and bridges, thus adding more miles to maintain, when it is not maintaining the miles it has.
The last thing I want is for the state to have more taxpayer money, for any purpose at all. It already has too much and should be cutting, not adding more dollars to bloated budgets.