re: Games of Skill - "Casinos" Skyrocketing in Arkansas

I'm asking you to show me where this helps the states economy.

Our neighboring states are some of the poorest states, bad economy states in the union. So how has it helped them?

Answer: it hasn't. Just like with the lottery. The big men with the casinos will rake in all the money. State may get quite a bit the first year, then that number starts to dwindle.

quote:

---

I'm asking you to show me where this helps the states economy.

Our neighboring states are some of the poorest states, bad economy states in the union. So how has it helped them?

---

This is a total straw-man.

Mississippi's economy was shitty waaaay before casinos. Casinos don't solve all of their economy's problems. Nobody has claimed that, nor has anybody claimed it will do that for Arkansas.

Casinos certainly have helped them, if you consider billions of dollars into the local and state economy to be a good thing.

LINK /

quote:

---

In 20 years since that uncertain first roll of the dice, the numbers tell the story. The 30 commercial casinos on the Gulf Coast and along the Mississippi River have created thousands of jobs and generated billions of dollars in revenue. According to the annual report by the Mississippi Casino Operators Association, last year the gaming industry accounted for $4.26 billion in direct economic activity, 25,000 jobs and 20 million visits from out-of-state patrons.

---

And the casino tax only generated over $250 million in revenue for the state of Mississippi in 2013.

LINK

So your position is "it won't fix our problems, it hasn't for Mississippi!"

It has generated a shitload of tourism and a shitload of tax revenue. A lot of those tourist dollars and tax revenue directly from the casinos (not counting hotel, gas, food taxes paid by the 20 million out of state visits per year) come from Arkansas.

I can't explain it any simpler than that. If you have other objections to casino gambling, then base your argument around those. Your current argument falls flat on its face.

quote:

---

Which is my point....there is nothing wrong with the Arkansas economy now.

---

Its a silly point.

"Our economy is fine, we don't need 10k new jobs, or 100 million in additional tax revenues!"

Really?


That's the position you are taking?

Direct economic impact of jobs and taxes paid into state coffers aside, even if casinos broke even for the state treasury, even if they generated ZERO dollars in revenue for the state, they'd still be a good idea.

Because they would keep millions and millions of dollars IN the state economy that are now going OUT of the state economy.

I can't make it any simpler or clearer.

People object to casinos on moral grounds, or NIMBY grounds. You simply can't make an economic case against casinos in a state surrounded by casino states. You can try, but you'll look foolish.

You say I look foolish, yet you have no grounds to stand on.

Show me how good that Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana economy are doing.

You've spouted shite with nothing to back up your claims. I've shown you numbers on the lottery, which gets worse at giving back to education each year.

quote:

---

Show me how good that Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana economy are doing.

---

You keep saying this over and over. Its the stupidest fricking attempt at a point in this thread. It might make sense if their economies were ENTIRELY CASINO BASED dummy, but they aren't.

One has nothing to do with the other.

I've backed up every single claim I've made in this thread. You haven't addressed any of the numbers I've provided from Mississippi except to say they're "crazy". Sorry, but calling something crazy is not the same as refuting hard facts.

You have an emotional opposition to casinos for whatever reason. Its cool.

And just for shits and giggles, not that it applies in any way to the discussion, both Oklahoma and Louisiana have lower unemployement rates than Arkansas does.



Bigger tax bases, too.

quote:

---

Again, why is it a positive for our state to have casinos?

Arkansas currently ranks 18th in economy according to the cnbc link.
Oklahoma 24th
Louisiana 35th(tie)
Mississippi 47th



Answer: it's not.

---

This is not a valid argument against casinos. You keep trying to make it into one, but its not one.

You are saying "we have enough $$$, we don't need more!" In fact, we have so much $$$ we can afford to keep sending millions to neighboring states.

What is your real opposition to casinos?

Seriously what are you opposed to?

The fact you can't comprehend what the numbers say is sad.

The point: Our economy will not get that big of a boost like you try and claim. Our money that may go out of state isn't hurting our bottom line and it isn't helping theirs. As shown by the numbers.

There will not be 10k jobs added by one to two casinos. That's insane. The Billagio in Vegas doesn't even employ that many people.

quote:

---

The fact you can't comprehend what the numbers say is sad.

---

Its the other way around, my friend. You haven't refuted anything I've posted. You're emotional about it, either on moral grounds, or you feel stupid for how you started arguing without understanding the issue. Its ok.

quote:

---

The point: Our economy will not get that big of a boost like you try and claim. Our money that may go out of state isn't hurting our bottom line and it isn't helping theirs. As shown by the numbers.

---

This is just....crazy. Arkansas sending millions out of state doesn't impact our bottom line. We must be even richer than you claim. Its funny, though. When Arkansas learns Mississippi is considering a lottery, we get concerned. Because we know how much $ we get from Mississippi people buying tickets. I'll post this link to a story, explaining it in simplistic terms, but I know you won't bother reading it. You haven't read any of the links I've posted because you're emotionally invested at this point. You think like a woman. Are you a woman? Here's the link: LINK

quote:

---

There will not be 10k jobs added by one to two casinos. That's insane. The Billagio in Vegas doesn't even employ that many people.

---

You don't understand economics at all. Jobs aren't just generated by the casinos themselves. They are generated by hotels and restaurants that come as a result of those casinos. Taxes also come to the state as a result of that.

This is a very simple concept to grasp. Most posters read SunHog's OP and said "yep, we're taking back some of our lost revenue from Mississippi, and gaining some more from other states. That's cool." You had a gut reaction to casinos and then sought to craft a shaky argument around that emotional response.

Its cool. Not everybody understand economics, even a little bit.