Video gaming—a second letter to the editor
I’ve not been able to post since Friday morning the 16th. I write my articles off-line and then normally copy and paste onto the website. I haven’t been able to paste. Until the problem gets solved, I’m going to write on-line—the result will be shorter posts without all the extras normally included.
http://www.theblacksword.net/
http://www.gunslingerpublications.com/
I mailed the following “letter to the editor” to the Morton Times-News and the Morton Courier on October 21, 2009. The letter was published in the Morton Courier on October 28th but was not published in the Morton Times-News. It is a modified version of a similar letter I posted on October 5th and mailed to both papers—neither of which was published.
The letter:
The Illinois General Assembly passed a law allowing video gaming in virtually every establishment in Illinois that sells alcohol by the glass. A Chicago Tribune article said “State officials estimate that as many as 45,000 legal poker machines could eventually be up and running across Illinois.” The State will be taxing this newly legalized gambling at 30%. The Tribune article declared almost 60% of the people oppose the new law.
The process used by the General Assembly is tainted. During the third reading on H.B. 255 dealing with the estates of dead people, the Senate on May 20th gutted the entire bill after the title and amended it with the provisions to establish video gaming. It was passed that same day. The public was denied any real possibility of providing input.
The General Assembly recognizes problems with this law. 25% of the fees collected are to “be paid to programs for the treatment of compulsive gambling.” Individuals under 21 can not gamble. Communities and county boards—acting for unincorporated areas—may ban video gaming within their jurisdictions. Citizens of a community may ban video gaming through a referendum. Representative Sommer voted against the bill. 12 communities and 1 county have already banned video gaming. (Three counties have now banned video gaming—my addition.)
Some authorities consider video gaming to be the “crack cocaine” of gambling—addicting more people faster than any other form. Experts argue gambling/video gaming will increase crime, increase debt, lead to more bankruptcies, remove money from the local community that would otherwise be spent in the community, increase addiction, and increase suicides.
We urge the Village Board to be a leader and ban video gaming now. We urge all communities in this county to ban video gaming. We urge the County Board to ban video gaming in unincorporated areas.
The Morton 9/12 Project
—Community Leader
—Assistant Leader
—Secretary
Don L. Vance—Treasurer
I did not include the name of each of the other officials since I did not tell them that I was going to post the letter on my blog.
I’ve not been able to post since Friday morning the 16th. I write my articles off-line and then normally copy and paste onto the website. I haven’t been able to paste. Until the problem gets solved, I’m going to write on-line—the result will be shorter posts without all the extras normally included.
http://www.theblacksword.net/
http://www.gunslingerpublications.com/
I mailed the following “letter to the editor” to the Morton Times-News and the Morton Courier on October 21, 2009. The letter was published in the Morton Courier on October 28th but was not published in the Morton Times-News. It is a modified version of a similar letter I posted on October 5th and mailed to both papers—neither of which was published.
The letter:
The Illinois General Assembly passed a law allowing video gaming in virtually every establishment in Illinois that sells alcohol by the glass. A Chicago Tribune article said “State officials estimate that as many as 45,000 legal poker machines could eventually be up and running across Illinois.” The State will be taxing this newly legalized gambling at 30%. The Tribune article declared almost 60% of the people oppose the new law.
The process used by the General Assembly is tainted. During the third reading on H.B. 255 dealing with the estates of dead people, the Senate on May 20th gutted the entire bill after the title and amended it with the provisions to establish video gaming. It was passed that same day. The public was denied any real possibility of providing input.
The General Assembly recognizes problems with this law. 25% of the fees collected are to “be paid to programs for the treatment of compulsive gambling.” Individuals under 21 can not gamble. Communities and county boards—acting for unincorporated areas—may ban video gaming within their jurisdictions. Citizens of a community may ban video gaming through a referendum. Representative Sommer voted against the bill. 12 communities and 1 county have already banned video gaming. (Three counties have now banned video gaming—my addition.)
Some authorities consider video gaming to be the “crack cocaine” of gambling—addicting more people faster than any other form. Experts argue gambling/video gaming will increase crime, increase debt, lead to more bankruptcies, remove money from the local community that would otherwise be spent in the community, increase addiction, and increase suicides.
We urge the Village Board to be a leader and ban video gaming now. We urge all communities in this county to ban video gaming. We urge the County Board to ban video gaming in unincorporated areas.
The Morton 9/12 Project
—Community Leader
—Assistant Leader
—Secretary
Don L. Vance—Treasurer
I did not include the name of each of the other officials since I did not tell them that I was going to post the letter on my blog.
posted by Christian Gunslinger at 5:48 AM
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