THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 7, 1995 TAG: 9502070009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
Virginians should wake up to the fact that legalized gambling in the state would be the worst thing that could ever happen!
I worked in Mississippi in 1993 when riverboat casinos were starting up. Motel rates went up, my rent was raised 10 percent and my co-workers voiced concerns about their increasing property taxes.
In 1994 I was going to accept a job in Groton, Conn., but was cautioned by my employer that the cost of living there had risen highly since gambling was allowed on a nearby Indian reservation.
The only people benefiting from gambling casinos are the owners and politicians taking kick-backs for their efforts in promoting the gambling casinos.
The losers will be Virginia citizens with higher taxes and cost-of-living increases and the poor who will gamble away what little money they have hoping to strike it rich, only to end up with even less in the long run.
JACK GOODWIN
Portsmouth, Jan. 20, 1995 by CNB