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Originally posted by: The Gambler
"This is probably way off topic, but I'm curious about the new gambling industry in MS. Was it touted as a cure-all for education funding in the 'campaign' stage? If so, has it yielded the promised results? Just curious."

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Yes. No.

While Ram's answers are essentially correct, it is important to note that a substantial amount of gambling revenue goes to the general fund. Absent that money, education would be even worse off than it is now.

More important than the direct revenues of gambling are its effects on the overall economic climate in Mississippi. On the coast it has raised employment levels and wages because of the demand for workers. If the boats are paying cashiers $10 an hour, the banks can't pay tellers $7 for long. More people working at higher wages means more sales and income taxes to the state. Growth is being felt as far north as Stone and George County. Similarly, the casinos in the Tunica area have transformed what used to be the poorest county in America.

In many current listings of the states by poverty or income levels you will note that Mississippi is not always 50th as in the past. We now tend to be 48th or 49th. Often states like New Mexico, South Dakota, and/or Louisiana come in below us. Mississippi unemployment is now close to the national average. I believe that the large gambling industry in Mississippi is a major factor in changing a pattern which goes back to the Civil War. I should point out that this shift preceded the Nissan plant coming on line.

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Originally posted by: Flash Gordon
"While Ram's answers are essentially correct, it is important to note that a substantial amount of gambling revenue goes to the general fund. Absent that money, education would be even worse off than it is now. More important than the direct revenues of gambling are its effects on the overall economic climate in Mississippi. On the coast it has raised employment levels and wages because of the demand for workers. If the boats are paying cashiers $10 an hour, the banks can't pay tellers $7 for long. More people working at higher wages means more sales and income taxes to the state. Growth is being felt as far north as Stone and George County. Similarly, the casinos in the Tunica area have transformed what used to be the poorest county in America. In many current listings of the states by poverty or income levels you will note that Mississippi is not always 50th as in the past. We now tend to be 48th or 49th. Often states like New Mexico, South Dakota, and/or Louisiana come in below us. Mississippi unemployment is now close to the national average. I believe that the large gambling industry in Mississippi is a major factor in changing a pattern which goes back to the Civil War. I should point out that this shift preceded the Nissan plant coming on line."

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All of what you say is true. But the human grief which has been wrought by the gaming industry can't be negated or balanced by the financial gains. Nissan is a boon to Mississippi. Gaming is a bane.

24-hours-per-day pawn shops follow, not precede, the casinos. Those pawn shops are not for Mississippi's affluent. They are for Mississippi's impoverished who don't have a pot to **** in and are going knee-deep in debt in face of the false promises of gaining something for nothing. The round-the-clock pawn shop phenenomenon says worlds about the human element of the gambling industry whose goal is to take from, not give to, the people of Mississippi.

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Originally posted by: So Don't Gamble
"Regulation or censure of an industry does not compensate for a lack of personal responsibility."

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What a simplistic and thoughtless response. This suggests to me that you don't have the foggiest idea about the problem. You seem to be suggesting that a lack of personal responsibility is the cause of everything that goes wrong in a person's life. Sorry, kid, but life is not that simple.

I am a life long resident (40+ years) of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and find the benefits of the gamming industry on the coast economy to be far more positive than negative. It should be noted that gaming was not presented as the solution to all of Mississippi’s education financing. Tax revenues from the casinos have never been marked exclusively for education needs but have always gone to the state’s general fund. It should also be noted that the tax revenue is divided among the state and the counties and cities in which the gamming is located. On the coast the counties and cities have seen great improvements to their K-12 infrastructure with most all students in new or newly remodel school buildings. Local communities have also made significant improvements to park and recreational facilities and major street and drainage improvements.

 

As to the negative impact of people with gambling problems, as with other addiction and social problems, it affects a small percentage. This statement is not meant to minimize the devastating impact on the lives of those with gambling addiction and their family members. However, lack of jobs and opportunities and low wages prior to gaming were affecting a far greater number of people. The best example of this is perhaps the impact of gaming on Tunica County Mississippi.

 

To suggest gaming should be prohibited because of the negative impact it has on some is to also suggest prohibition should be brought back and that perhaps communities should consider closing down all their banks because they lead to causing some people to commit bank robberies.

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Originally posted by: 3 balls and a chain
"Kid,here's nothing moral, immoral, or amoral about pawn shops. The pawn shop industry is merely another business operating within the laws of the state of Mississippi. But the proliferation of 24-hour-per-day pawn shops immediately following the establishment of the gaming industry on the coast does tell us something. I'm not a gambler - never have been - and I make no moral judgment about gambling qua gambling. But I have seen the vast amount of human havoc the gaming industry has created for the disadvantaged. Why do my observations bother you so much? "

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I am bothered by your observations because initially I disagreed with your premise and later took offense to to your unfounded condescension.  You also chose to take statements out of context or to misinterpret them.  I indicated that your argument, not your evaluation of pawn shops, was a moralistic one.  I see the vast amount of human havoc all around us on a daily basis and have never felt compelled to associate it with gambling.  An industry that helps build infrastructure, provide jobs, raise average wages, and create secondary industries in an impoverished state is one that I support.  I don't have enough interest in the subject or in your opinions to continue responding to you. 

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Originally posted by: So Don't Gamble
"Regulation or censure of an industry does not compensate for a lack of personal responsibility."

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Personally, I thought Mississippi should have followed the complete Nevada model. When it legalized gambling, it should also have legalized prostitution.

Vice is vice & vice versa.

Gambler, is this an Okla. issue??

Funny thread.

This is why the gambling industry, as opposed to gambling itself, is a problem emblematic of the new economy in America: it produces NOTHING.  Do we actually make anything in America anymore? 

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Originally posted by: Austin Eagle
"This would seem an appropriate placement for the program, harking back to the infamous "Chicken Ranch" bordello immortalized on Broadway  in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.""

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And in ZZ Tops' equally infamous "Lagrange." (Whenever I drive to Austin, I make it a point to tip my hat at the Lagrange road sign.)

But returning to your proposal for a moment, it might really take off with support from Sanderson Farms! Isn't that outfit now represented on the IHL board?