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1/16/01
The Pentagon is in the gambling business
We were not aware until we read a story in Sunday's paper that the U.S. military maintains gambling facilities for its personnel overseas. The four branches of the armed forces operate about 8,000 slot machines that take in some $1.2 billion a year.
Profits from the machines, according to the Pentagon, go toward "morale, welfare and recreation" activities for the troops. Besides, it says, even though some compulsive gamblers are ruined by the slots, they are "just another recreation program, no different than saying, 'I'm going to spend $20 and go see a movie.'"
These are interesting points as well as an interesting comparison. They are similar to arguments made for state lotteries, including the one in Pennsylvania that "benefits senior citizens."
But long before the states and the Defense Department got into the gambling business, the Mafia made the point that it was simply offering a recreational activity that people wanted. The government, of course, vigilantly went to war against illegal gambling, giving as one of its reasons the need to protect people who might gamble beyond their means.
Someone could lose his paycheck in a poker machine at a corner bar, so such machines are outlawed. But an Air Force enlistee who did the same thing on a military base ended up being court-martialed and jailed for writing bad checks.
Thus, we have a "do as we say, not as we do" situation, where the government prosecutes gambling operators with one hand, and takes in gambling profits with the other.
1/16/01
The Pentagon is in the gambling business
We were not aware until we read a story in Sunday's paper that the U.S. military maintains gambling facilities for its personnel overseas. The four branches of the armed forces operate about 8,000 slot machines that take in some $1.2 billion a year.
Profits from the machines, according to the Pentagon, go toward "morale, welfare and recreation" activities for the troops. Besides, it says, even though some compulsive gamblers are ruined by the slots, they are "just another recreation program, no different than saying, 'I'm going to spend $20 and go see a movie.'"
These are interesting points as well as an interesting comparison. They are similar to arguments made for state lotteries, including the one in Pennsylvania that "benefits senior citizens."
But long before the states and the Defense Department got into the gambling business, the Mafia made the point that it was simply offering a recreational activity that people wanted. The government, of course, vigilantly went to war against illegal gambling, giving as one of its reasons the need to protect people who might gamble beyond their means.
Someone could lose his paycheck in a poker machine at a corner bar, so such machines are outlawed. But an Air Force enlistee who did the same thing on a military base ended up being court-martialed and jailed for writing bad checks.
Thus, we have a "do as we say, not as we do" situation, where the government prosecutes gambling operators with one hand, and takes in gambling profits with the other.
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