Wanna Bet?
So there are 85 calendar days until the mid-term elections. Any day now we should be seeing a major uptick in political ads on TV (and radio, I guess). But here on the Left Coast we’ve been subjected to an avalanche of ads for months now on one ballot proposition, Proposition 27. We even had ads before they knew what the proposition’s number was. That was new. Not so new is the subject of the proposition: legalizing online sports betting. We’ve seen that one before.
Many states have legalized online sports betting, but California, the sugar plum that the gambling industry has tried to pick before, has not. And the “Yes on 27” campaign has vigorous opposition from the “No on 27” campaign. Hundreds of millions of dollars in TV ads are being spent across both campaigns. It could go as high as a half a billion.
See, California has lots of native American tribes that have enjoyed the profits from our many, many “Indian Casinos”. They’re big here. Seeing a cut in casino profits, the casino tribes are behind the “No” campaign and huge out-of-state online gambling concerns are behind “Yes”.
So this should be an interesting tug-of-war in this deep blue state. Vote “Yes” and the taxes levied on online sales go to help house the homeless, and vote “No” to protect the sovereign rights of California’s casino tribes. A conflict worthy of the California Woke to mull over.
I guess ultimately I’ll vote for the cause that tells the fewest lies.
I don’t have a dog in this hunt; but, you might want to consider that in states that added the Lottery, they also sold it on the fact that the money from it would go to public education. Yes, and then the extra money was taken out and used for other things and it was a wash for the schools. Whether California will be more honest about such things, I can’t say. It’s been 50 years since I last lived there.
1BarbinDC, California was one of the first states to replace a tax-ssupported education system with Lotto-supported funding. I still remember the Lotto campaign slogan: “Our Kids Win, Too”. The scam worked before, but that was a generation ago. I assume our collective memory has not improved.
2Half Empty, until a generation ago California’s education system was a world leader. Employment there allowed tens of thousands of people to lead excellent lives and millions of students to get terrific educations at reasonable cost. Praying your assumption proves mistaken.
3This is really interesting to me because I lived in Amador County in California for about 18 years before moving here to Texas. It’s not a big county but it has two Indian casinos and will likely get a third after a twenty year battle between the Miwok band and the city of Plymouth. Our last place in Amador was about a quarter of a mile off Highway 16 which was the road from Sacramento to Plymouth. We were not looking forward to having the increased traffic, noise, and trash generated by casino goers. A co-worker of mine lived near the Jackson Rancheria casino and often had people relieving themselves near the gate to her property on their way home in the middle of the night. I don’t know how I would vote on this proposition if I were still living there.
4Election day for us in Alaska. The special one to elect Don Young’s successor. Hopefully, it is the day we’ll see the last of quitter Sarah Palin. There are so many right wing, evangelicals further north in our (sadly) red state that I am worried about that.
5I think that FB has an offshoot that focuses on this online betting/gambling. Do you know if they are behind it?
6BarbinDC @ 1,
Once upon a time, I lived in Florida. Years ago FL also brought in the Lottery. They, too, said the money would go to the schools. FL siphoned off the money for other purposes and the schools got a very little from the Lottery. Schools in FL have only gotten worse.
7The mostly blue/purple state of Illinois pulled the same Lottery scam some 20 years ago. Lotto money put in on top of the budget, tax money sucked out of the bottom of the pile. Net gain, a wash.
8I am in CA and skip voting on many amendments because they are poorly written, poorly thought out as to long term effects, and they are bankrolled by too many special interests. It’s ridiculous.
9Be careful with the vote on the referendum. When Virginia allowed ads for online betting companies and their apps, TV and radio airwaves were SWAMPED with commercials. I may never recover……..
10Stacey @9 I always vote no if a proposition is poorly written, even if I like the goal, just to send them back to the drawing board. As far as Proposition 27 goes and based on past history, I have no confidence the money will go the homeless or tribes with no casinos. Then there’s the fact that gambling is addictive and government shouldn’t promote it. The California State Lottery is bad enough.
11Yes, it is hard to vote for gambling but I would rather have people go to the Indian casinos in person. I have friends who enjoy going to play and eat, but not lose their shirts.
12The tribe where I live is in favor of Proposition 27. I am voting against it just because of that.
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