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Newsletters
Other Local Casino Opposition
Organizations
No Casinos in
Sedgwick County
Moms Against
Casinos
We Believe in
Wichita
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We
won!
Thanks to everyone who
contributed their money, time and talents to the effort.
Sedgwick County rejects gambling
With slots out, Ruffin says he'll close track |
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Show your opposition to expanded gambling - buy
and proudly wear a t-shirt purchased at
http://www.cafepress.com/voicesheartland!
Here are some examples (click on the thumbnail
to see a larger image):
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Make a donation to Voices of the Heartland to help us continue to educate
people about the dangers of expanded gambling, using a credit card or
your PayPal account. |
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2007
NATIONAL COALITION AGAINST LEGALIZED GAMBLING / NATIONAL COALITION AGAINST
GAMBLING EXPANSION CONFERENCE
1 PM Friday,
OCTOBER 12
thru 5 PM Saturday, OCTOBER 13
Sheraton
National
900 S. Orme Street
Arlington, VA 22204
(just outside Washington DC
close to Reagan National Airport)
Registration
info for the conference and the hotel is on: www.ncalg.org |
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Visit our Quotable Quotes
page |
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Members of the clergy,
click here to view and print
our Clergy Information Packet.
Members of the press,
click here to view and print
our Media Information Packet.
Anyone who is interested,
click here to view and print our
Casino Facts and Impacts packet. |
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Note: If you are looking for an article that you saw
here, they are moved to an appropriate page after a few days - look in
News, Local News or
Op-Ed. Research/reference studies and links are moved to
Reference.
Note: Most recent
articles are listed first within each date posted |
Added 6/28/07
Bad Odd
The Wall Street Journal, June 11 2007
Study: Casino a net loss for city
The Wichita Eagle, June 16 2007
A new study says Sedgwick County could be a
big loser once the indirect costs of a casino are factored in.
Gambling addictions take a toll
The Wichita Eagle, June 9 2007
GAMBLING: Who's really at risk?
The connection between gambling and crime
The Feasibility of Electronic and/or Casino Gaming in Kansas
2006 update to the study
Chandler, De Boer oppose casino
The Wichita Eagle, June 27 2007
No Casinos in Sedgwick
County is organizing a grassroots movement to oppose the expansion of
gambling into Sedgwick County. Vote NO to a
destination casino and slot machines at the track on August 7!
Gambling shows process is
quicker, less controlled
4/1/07.TOPEKA,
Kan. -Two weeks ago, if someone wanted to read the casino-and-slots bill that
would pass the Legislature and make perhaps the biggest social and political
change in Kansas in the past 20 years, its sponsors didn't have a copy to
share...Opponents were angered that such a big bill could fly through the
Legislature so quickly. Supporters took advantage of long-term changes in how
the Legislature operates, accomplishing something that would have seemed
inconceivable two decades ago.
The last time I
checked we were a solvent state with an economy that is, if not rosy, appearing
very robust. Why then is KAKE doing the bidding of casino promoters by running a
"poll" with a twisted collection of options from which to choose? If KAKE Poll
questions were presented in a court of law there would be a resounding "I object
to the leading questions"
"Given the relatively high rate of problem gambling prevalence identified in
California, it appears that greatly heightened access to electronic gambling
machines, casino table games and other continuous gambling forms has already
generated increases in problem gambling in the state as well as related costs to
families and communities. Furthermore, although we now have substantial
information about the contemporary risk profile for problem gambling in
California, this is likely to change as the gambling market in California
matures and as new gambling activities and technologies become available.
"While the prevalence of problem gambling tends to rise when access to
gambling increases, research suggests it will eventually level out, even when
gambling accessibility continues to increase (Abbott, in press).
However, rates may rise three- or four-fold before this occurs and even then,
active measures may be required to achieve stabilization."
Address to the Seventh Annual
Commercial Real Estate Deal Maker Forum
October 24, 2006. Tom Grey, National Spokesman, Field
Director, NCALG and NCAGE
"[Gambling] is not good economics. These Ohio
promoters are selling "Learn and Earn," but it’s really nothing but "Churn" in
the business community. Gambling cannibalizes. It sucks disposable income out of
the economy and flushes it down the slots. It creates no new dollars. Even if
there weren’t social costs, the best it could be is a zero sum game. It’s
trading dollars. It’s churn."
Featured articles:
The Real
Lottery Scandal:
Harriet
Miers and America's pathetic affair with state gambling
10/26/05.
Here's what really happened. States fell in love with lotteries in the 1970s and
1980s, and now 41 have them. Big money, politicians in control, and a fixed
number of customers up for grabs--the invitation to sleaze was always going to
be high as the battle for these contracts played out.
Why Are Christians So Indifferent to Gambling?
10/2005. Gambling has infiltrated our culture, but
Christians are silent. There could be many reasons why that is so.
Article by John H. Redekop
The Gambling
Industry's Ultimate Con Game
This item comes from the Texas Republican Party's website and synopsizes very
well many of the reasons to oppose the expansion of gambling in Kansas. Among
others is the fact that it has not proved to be the revenue panacea many other
states thought it would be. For example:
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Every state that uses gambling as a revenue source has a budget deficit – most
notably Nevada and New Jersey.
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In South Carolina, lawmakers abandoned plans to institute VLTs when “the huge
social costs in the form of addiction and financial hardship” failed to
produce any real economic benefit.
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Former South Dakota Governor Bill Janklow called VLTs “the biggest mistake the
state ever made.”
Hold buzzards, but fork over gambling cash
8/18/05. It began 26 years ago when the Seminoles opened a high-stakes bingo
hall on their Hollywood reservation, becoming the first American tribe to delve
into gaming...Other tribes across the nation took note, and the gaming gold rush
was on.
Against
the Odds
5/23/05. A terrific and comprehensive article from US News and World
Report.
Casino executives say the growth is
simply due to a host of innovations that make gambling more fun. And most
gamblers would agree. But what Bazua and other gamblers may not realize is that
behind all that glitz is an army of behavioral scientists, technowizards, and
mathematicians with one goal: to finesse ever more money out of your wallet,
whether in front of the slot machine, at the blackjack table, in the celebrity
chef restaurant, or at the concert hall.
PBS Frontline's
Easy Money: a
Report on America's Booming Gambling Industry and its Economic and Political
Clout
Original Air Date
June 10, 1997. "...Easy Money exposes the immoral collusion between
pro-business, revenue-hungry governments and the gambling industry, which is
increasingly controlled by the same institutions who control the rest of the
U.S. and Canadian economy." |
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Frequently referenced research
Park City Police Casino Research Report
This study concludes, as do many others, that gaming
casinos directly or indirectly cause an increase in the crime rate in their host
communities.
National
Gambling Impact Study Commission Report
This study is often cited by both sides of the gambling issue, including the
study commissioned by the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation. It is huge -
the full report is 150 pages!
Wichita Casino Economic Impact
Study
This pro-gambling study was done
for the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation. PDF pages 42 & 43 (Substitution
Effect) reveal that the economic and revenue projections preceding are just
so much 'pie in the sky'. Also read Section VII - Social Impacts
(beginning on PDF page 49) for the real story on costs versus benefits.
Grinols-Cutting
the Cards and Craps: Right Thinking about Gambling Economics
This is the seminal study on the economics of
gambling. It makes clear that even the often-touted "new jobs" promised by
casino promoters are seldom a true economic benefit.
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Short takes
Many churches have taken positions on gambling.
When we find them, we'll post them here:
Presbyterian
Church USA
Lutheran Church
Missouri Synod
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Southern
Baptist Convention
Catholic Church - see #2413
Button, button, who's
got the button?
OK, not that kind of button, actually, but
if you are opposed to casinos and expanded gambling in our area and would like
to wear a button proclaiming your beliefs, click here.
Click here to view/print the
Voices of the Heartland brochure. Please share it with family, friends and
neighbors.
A terrific brochure from the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling (NCALG)
called Legalized
Gambling - The Inside Story provides a summary of gambling issues. You
can print your own copies or order a supply from NCALG. Click
here for a
text-only version.
There are a number of
definitions for problem gambling. The Australian Institute for Gambling Research
offers the following:
Problem gambling
refers to the situation in which a person's gambling activity gives rise to
harm to the individual player, and/or his or her family, and may extend into
the community. (Dickerson et al., 1997, p.2).
For a history of gambling in Kansas, click
here.
Wondering what the gambling laws are in Kansas?
Click here for
the lowdown. |
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