"Everything" is the answer. The question is "What's in a name?" Juliet asked "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
"Gambling" is perceived as bad. Take out the "bl" and you have "gaming" which is perceived as good.
"Taxes" are bad. "Regressive taxes" (which bear more heavily on the poor than on the wealthy) are even worse. Horrors! But change the name to "casinos" and that's good.
"Casino" is derived from the Italian root "casa" meaning "house." "Casino" has a wonderful, warm ring to it, but essentially it means "gambling house."
The Massachusetts Senate has just approved a bill that would authorize casino gambling in western Massachusetts and other areas.
The argument for casinos is that casinos will promote tourism and provide jobs. The arguments against casinos include the suggestion that casinos will promote crime. Google "crime in Springfield" and you will find that Springfield already has the 40th worst crime record in the United States.
Aside from the argument that gambling does not support social tranquility, we have the claim (for which there appears overwhelming support) that state-sponsored lotteries and authorized gambling are actually taxes regressive taxes at that, because they fall most heavily on poorer persons.
In addition, there are enormous social costs, including the cost of dealing with those who may become addicted to gambling.
Taxes are a necessary governmental tool. Without them, we cannot school our children, house our poor, pave our roads, and bomb distant lands. Taxation is serious business.
As a tax lawyer, I appreciate the need for taxes. If the government chooses to impose additional taxes on us, they should be transparent.
If you write a check to the tax collector on April 15, you appreciate how much you are paying in taxes, and you may be motivated to see whether it is well spent. If the taxes on gasoline are increased, you know about it every time you fill up and it gives you pain. If people spend money at a casino, you do not directly feel the effect. Taxes should be open and obvious, and not sneaked in through the back doors of casinos.
