{"id":1842,"date":"2023-04-03T04:00:24","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T04:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=1842"},"modified":"2023-04-03T04:59:31","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T04:59:31","slug":"no-more-casinos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=1842","title":{"rendered":"No More Casinos"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/wifamilycouncil.org\/radio\/no-more-casinos\/<\/a><\/p>\n

2023 | Week of April 3 | Radio Transcript #1510<\/h3>\n

Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling\u2019s brochure for Problem Gambling Awareness Month begins this way:<\/p>\n

\u201cMilwaukee woman embezzled over a million dollars to feed gambling addiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cFormer Dells Bookkeeper tells court $350K embezzlement supported gambling addiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cGambling addiction blamed in Thrivent theft in Fox Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cFalls woman gets 15 months for embezzling to cover gambling debts.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

From there the numbers supplied by the Council are stunning. In 2021, the most recent year for which we have statistics, approximately 333,000 Wisconsin citizens, or about 7 percent of our total population, have a gambling problem. Calls to the Council\u2019s 24-hour Helpline have increased 389% since 1996, with 22,201 calls in 2021. The average debt of callers contacting the Helpline is $58,094. 65% of compulsive gamblers commit crimes to finance their gambling. Six to twenty percent of adolescents develop gambling problems.<\/p>\n

None of this is good news\u2014but it is significant because Wisconsin is on the cusp of bringing in two new casinos\u2014one in Beloit and possibly one in Kenosha.\u00a0 The Beloit casino will be the first off-reservation casino in our state, but I will guarantee you it won\u2019t be the last because you can\u2019t tell one tribe they can have a casino that isn\u2019t on tribal land, and then tell the other 10 tribes they can\u2019t have the same thing. Governor Evers a couple of years ago gave the go-ahead on the Beloit casino.<\/p>\n

The Kenosha casino was supposedly dead a number of years ago after Governor Walker denied it, which was his right to do. But apparently casinos can rise from the dead, because the Kenosha casino through some very interesting maneuvers and machinations is doing just that. It\u2019s far from a done deal, but it is moving through the process.<\/p>\n

Casinos are not good for our state. There\u2019s no other way to say it. When casinos come into communities, crime goes up, addictions to not just gambling, but to drugs and alcohol, increase; local businesses are run out of business, family break-down increases, and most often the promises made to the local community by the tribe never come fully to fruition. There\u2019s no win-win at all.\u00a0 There\u2019s a loser and a winner when it comes a new casino. The casino owners\/operators win; the community loses.<\/p>\n

Of course, the reason our state keeps pursuing these casino agreements is state government receives a percentage of the profits the casinos earn. Elected officials see that as \u201cfree money.\u201d Unfortunately, it\u2019s not free; it comes from citizens who have succumbed to the siren song of gambling and have lost money.<\/p>\n

Studies have frequently shown that problem gambling increases in proximity to a casino. In other words, the closer one lives to a casino, the greater the likelihood of developing a gambling problem. Two new casinos will make the numbers I mentioned earlier even worse.<\/p>\n

Organizationally, Wisconsin Family Council opposes the expansion of gambling because of gambling\u2019s impact on families. Citing the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling again, problem gambling negatively affects families by creating financial crises, manipulation for loans, lying, mental health issues, physical health issues, self-esteem problems, role imbalance such as children taking care of parents, and verbal and physical abuse.<\/p>\n

What gets lost when a family member has a gambling problem is trust, respect, employment, financial security, and reputation, all of which destroys marriages and families.<\/p>\n

Strong families are the foundation of our state. Policies and decisions that weaken this institution eventually weaken our state. While people don\u2019t like to admit it, our state is only as strong as its families. Families suffering from problem gambling are fragile at best, and too often become so frail that they disintegrate. The ramifications of this disintegration go far beyond that individual family.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin already has a gambling problem. We should not be doing anything that will make problem worse. For sure we don\u2019t need any more casinos. Gambling is pretty much a zero-sum enterprise\u2014the house wins; the gambler loses. That\u2019s how it is designed to be. No level of government should be promoting anything that harms families and that requires its citizens to lose in order for the state to win.<\/p>\n

This is Julaine Appling for Wisconsin Family Council reminding you the prophet Hosea said, \u201cMy people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a>https:\/\/wi-problemgamblers.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Learn more at WIFamilyCouncil.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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