Why I’ll Vote NO For Maryland Question 7

If you watch TV, you can't have missed the advertising battle over Maryland's "Question 7." This summary is from an online post:

"Question 7 is an effort to expand commercial gaming in Maryland. Lawmakers argue expanded gambling will raise revenue for education. A vote for Question 7 would be in favor of three attempts to expand gambling.

1) Authorization of table games

2) Increase from 15,000 to 16,000 allowable lottery machines

3) An increase in the number of video lottery machine operation licenses allowed in Maryland from five to six – allowing a proposed casino in Prince George’s County." (Posted: 09/12/2012. Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc.)

OpEd:

I will vote No to approve another Maryland casino.

1) My husband racked up $60,000 on his credit cards because he was addicted to gambling. To cover debt exceeding his gross annual salary, he ran a shell game moving money from one of 17 credit card account to another to meet the minimum monthly payment. (FYI: Maryland law allows credit card companies to pursue spouses even if they are not on the account!) He died not long after filing bankruptcy.

2) Gambling is NEVER a good thing. In a bad economy, desperate people do desperate things. Instead of food, one Union Station pan handler buys hundreds of DC lottery tickets but loses 99% of the time! Casinos odds are worse than state lotteries because their machines are programmed to favor “the house.”

My advice: gamble for free on your computer, donate directly to your local school system, and, if you want a job, do something that won’t prey on others’weaknesses.
 

How should you vote?

"Against the Additional Forms and Expansion of Commercial Gaming"

[The OpEd portion of this post was published to the Washington Examiner on 09/27/2012 online, 09/28/12 paper with different subtitle.http://washingtonexaminer.com/letters-to-the-editor-sept.-28-2012/article/2509233] See also Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/VoteNoOn7