Second Opinion / OTHER MEDIA : THE CALIFORNIA SOUTHERN BAPTIST : The Bankruptcy of Legal Gambling

While Democrats and Republicans in Sacramento bicker and argue over who created California’s deepening budget crisis and who must fix it, two bills pending in the Assembly are sure to do nothing to help the problem or the citizens of the state.

One bill would allow gambling on cruise ships operating out of California ports. The other would bring betting on horse races into your living room. Experience indicates that both bills will benefit only the gambling industry and will burden, not help, California’s already staggering financial state.

AB74 would permit gambling on ships operating between California ports as well as on those which go in and out of the same port city in the state. . . . AB1418 would legalize at-home gambling on horse races through interactive television technology.

Sponsors say the bills will create jobs and spur the economy. We doubt it. For every job created, the risk increases that many will be financially and morally impoverished by the illusory expectation of wealth without effort. And dollars diverted from legitimate businesses don’t help the economy, they hurt it.