Props Pass By Wide Margin

First, an update on the Valley Journal’s bid to gain status as a “newspaper of general circulation”.

NCH has withdrawn her petition. Nuf said.

Now… onto the election…

Poor Mr. Fancher… the system has failed him miserably again. Remember he’s the one who makes no bones about the fact that if he dumps enough money into the right hands then he should be able have things go his way. He’s the Vegas casino and horse track owner who dumped millions into the “No on Props 94 - 97” campaign and once again has nothing to show for it. He might want to start thinking about a new strategy. Clearly, the one he has is not working at all.

As predicted, Props 94 – 97 were approved, overwhelmingly, by California voters yesterday. Statewide it was 56% to 44% in favor. Our county showed even more support by voting close to 60% to 40% in favor of the amended compacts.

Complete election results can be found here:

http://vote.ss.ca.gov/Returns/props/59.htm

It’s a pretty clear message to the small, very vocal, group of people in the valley who have fought the Chumash people and their casino for years in the name of protecting us all. The large majority of the people in our area do not agree with their views and for them to keep insinuating that they are speaking for the people of this valley and surrounding communities is offensive and self righteous.

Even though I believe the actions and words of these groups speak of a darker undertone, one of racial bias and personal vendettas, they continually use the evils of gambling as their platform. When someone or some group attack a tribe's legitimacy as a Federally recognized tribe and question whether or not their reservation is legitimate it.. well .. it can only be about one thing and one thing only... the people.

But just for giggles let’s look at “the evils of gambling” and its social costs and put it in the proper perspective in relation to other social evils.

Archeological evidence reveals that the earliest caveman was a gambler. Dice-like objects made from the ankle bone of a sheep or dog called Astragali dating back 40,000 years have been found. Cave drawings depicting gambling offer further proof of the existence of early gamblers. Pairs of dice have even turned up in the ruins of Pompeii.

Gambling has been in existence from the beginning and I bet (pun intended) that in a about another 5 billion years or so when the Sun has expanded so much (hey, I wonder if it will be as big as the moon in our sky like Mars was?? !!) that the Earth will be on the verge of being scorched, that there will be bets placed on exactly when the Earth will become a burnt marshmallow in one of the many fires of our galaxy.

Hopefully, mankind will have made enough progress to view this event from a safe distance and those who predicted the correct time of Ma Earth’s demise will be able to collect their winnings.

This is the reality of it. The human species likes to, and forever will, gamble.

POLO has recently, through press releases, brought up statistics and studies concerning gambling addiction– of course with no sources to back anything up – that twist and dilute the true statistics.

One of their recent press releases stated that 80 percent of gambling revenue comes from households with incomes of less than $40,000 a year. That kind of rang a bell so I looked back in the archives of this blog and low and behold I found it in the post “Same Small Circle of Misinformation” of June 6, 2007. It was from an editorial by Kathy Cleary. Of course back then she said it was $50,000 but saying $40, 000 now twists it more to her favor. Ms Cleary was referring to a study in 1999 by the bipartisan National Gambling Impact Commission.

This is what I said concerning Ms. Cleary’s “statistic”:

“This statement has become a staple in these groups anti-gambling repertoire. I read the entire report front to back and then scoured it again but failed to find this “fact”. If someone can tell me where in the report this fact lies I would be very grateful. Even if this were true what point would it make? The poverty level for a 4 person family in 1999 was $16,700. What does “incomes less than $50,000 a year” in 1999 have to do with anything? Of course if you have a $19 million estate, as one of the people in this little circle does, then I guess, to them anyway, an income of $50,000 a year is peanuts and could be considered poverty level.”

Hmmm.. an income of $50,000 in 1999… Not too shabby for the majority of us. But of course, like I say, if your one of those with 6 figure incomes or more (in some cases MUCH more) and live the lifestyles that go with it then a “poor persons” measly 50 g’s a year must certainly be perceived as poverty level. Pass the caviar please.

Although the National Gambling Impact Commission is almost 10yrs old, POLO consistently refers to it...not accurately mind you... but they refer to it. So let’s look at what the study revealed. I will provide you with the links so that you may verify all that I post here. Something POLO dare not do.

The NGISC concluded that "the vast majority of Americans gamble recreationally and experience no measurable side effects related to their gambling, or they choose not to gamble at all." In other words, approximately 99% or more of the people going into the casino are perfectly normal happy citizens who go by their own free will and gamble responsibly as well as eat at fine dining restaurants and attend shows.

While gaming opponents have claimed that approximately 10% of players are pathological gamblers, actual studies have shown that it is much lower. In 1997, the Harvard Medical School put the number at 1.3%. A study conducted by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences for the NGISC re-analyzed the data from the Harvard Medical School analysis in order to isolate the estimates for the United States and found a pathological gambling prevalence rate of 0.9% – 1.5% A study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry in 2005 estimated the lifetime prevalence rate of pathological gambling at .42% based upon data derived from a sample of more than 43,000 U.S. residents aged 18 and older.

Again these are not just things I am pulling out of thin air like others do. These are concrete findings.

The fact is, according to the report, only about 5% of the of the gaming industry’s revenue is generated by individuals with a gambling disorder. Overall, casino patrons spend their money wisely. According to a 2002 poll conducted for the AGA by Peter D. Hart Research Associates and The Luntz Research Companies, 80 percent of customers always or usually set a budget before they gamble.

The next set of facts really shows the hypocritical nature of groups like POLO. I am sure they love to sip fine wines, have a few beers with friends now and then, or even just get plastered once in a while. The Valley Journal has many ads and articles involving alcohol. Here’s the hypocritical part.

In 2001 approximately 14% of the US adult population met the criteria for alcohol /drug abuse and dependence. In comparison only 3% were found to be pathological and problem gamblers. About 75% of high school students tried alcohol. More alarming, about 28% of teens had episodes of heavy drinking. About 40% of teens tried marijuana one or more times, while about 22% of teens used marijuana. About 9% of teens had tried cocaine, while 4% used it one or more times in a month. Cocaine is an addictive drug. I believe our children's health and well-being is far more of a serious concern than the 3% or so adults who are problem gamblers. Alcohol and drugs destroy many more lives and families than gambling. It kills people

Opponents of gaming have made outlandish allegations about social costs of $200 billion annually. The commission-funded research conducted by NORC (the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago) placed the annual cost to society of all forms of gaming — casinos, lotteries, pari-mutuel wagering and charitable gaming, as well as illegal gambling — at about $5 billion. $5 billion is not a small number, but when compared to the annual cost of alcohol abuse which is $166 billion, and heart disease which is $125 billion it seems rather insignificant. What’s the priority here, especially when we talk about our children?

On March 6, 2007, the U.S. Surgeon General's Office appealed to Americans to do more to stop America's 11 million current underage drinkers from using alcohol, and to keep other young people from starting.

Surely this would be a better case than them trying to save the 3% (2001 figure) of problem gamblers at the expense of the 97% who gamble responsibly. I imagine POLO would fight pretty hard against a campaign that sought to eliminate alcohol sales.... to protect the minority of problem drinkers. But, by God, they are determined to save that 3% of problem gamblers. How hypocritical can you get and how obvious is it that their motives go way beyond anti-gambling.

So, after all is said in done and by the actions and words of these groups it leads me to one conclusion.....I think that they just don’t like Indians very much for some reason.

Here should be all the links you need to verify all above. Anyone wishing to track down anything above that cannot be verified below please let me know and I will produce the source.

http://www.gypsyware.com/gamblingHistory.html
http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2007/05/11/opinion/051107b.txt http://www.americangaming.org/industry/factsheets/issues_detail.cfv?id=29 http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc/index.html http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2007pres/20070306.html
http://www.adp.cahwnet.gov/FactSheets/FactshtAlcoholOther%20Drugs2-07.pdf
http://www.americangaming.org/Industry/factsheets/issues_detail.cfv?id=22
http://policycouncil.nationaljournal.com/EN/Forums/American+Gaming+Association/b03c2c54-665b-47ec-b568-0867070eadcc.htm