Posted on 05/02/2003 1:27:57 PM PDT by Callahan
May 2 — In his best-selling anthology, “The Book of Virtues,” William J. Bennett writes: “We should know that too much of anything, even a good thing, may prove to be our undoing…[We] need to set definite boundaries on our appetites.”
DOES BENNETT? The popular author, lecturer and Republican Party activist speaks out, often indignantly, about almost every moral issue except one-gambling. It’s not hard to see why. According to casino documents, Bennett is a “preferred customer” in at least four venues in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, betting millions of dollars over the last decade. His games of choice: video poker and slot machines, some at $500 a pull. With a revolving line of credit of at least $200,000 at each casino, Bennett, former drug czar and Secretary of Education under Presidents Reagan and Bush, doesn’t have to bring money when he shows up at a casino.
(link for full article)
Excellent observation. The need to justify their decision.
I must confess that I was at one time a fan of Bill Bennett's. That was when he was the education czar, before his true colors had been put on public display. I thought for a little while we would see the demise of federal control of public education as Reagan had promised in his 1980 canpaign. Bill Bennett looked like the person who could see it through.
Then, when he became the nation's first drug czar and we got to see firsthand how he would impose virtue on citizens whose problems were beyond their personal control, the real Bill Bennett emerged. His hypocrisy is less worrisome than the fact that he, along with many other well-respected Republicans, has a near-total disregard for the Constitutional restraints on federal power.
If gambling -- a more serious vice, IMHO, than puffing on a weed that grows wild in many parts of the nation -- is left up to the states to decide if it should be legal, and how it is to be regulated, then why not other things that get people in trouble, like prostitution, drinking and smoking pot? Surely the federal government has its hands full fighting wars, deciding who is or is not eligible to immigrate to this country, and trying to keep the dollar weak enough that our exports will some day balance our imports. Fighting vice seems like something the states could handle better, and certainly should have the exclusive power to do under the Constitution. But then who in office has any respect for that old piece of paper they swore an oath to uphold and defend?
Most people who recognize the name will think first of The Book of Virtues before they think of the sad history of the War on Drugs which Bennett was in effect a general in. They will see the hypocrisy, which is most likely why MSNBC and Newsweek gave this story coverage.
But many will not understand that a legal vice, such as gambling, can be overcome with a supportive family and friends that care. Getting over drug addiction, on the other hand, brings law enforcement into the picture unless the person is able to pay for the Betty Ford Clinic. You get busted, you go to jail. If Bill Bennett and Newt Gingrich had their way, you'd be executed for selling the stuff. Not very compassionate, are they?
So expect Rush Limbaugh to line up in Bill Bennett's defense tomorrow. Blame the messenger, blame Newsweek, blame Jonathan Alder, blame the Democrats that run New Joisey and haven't put a limit on how much a gambler can drop in a slot machine. And, of course, he'll remind his listeners that the liberal media has been out to get Bill Bennett all along because of his stand for morality and family values, blah, blah, blah.
The best defence is a good offense, they say.
Don't expect for Rush Limbaugh to bring up the unpleasant subjects of personal responsibility, freedom to do what you like without harming others, or -- heaven forbid -- why gambling isn't controlled by the federal government.
And don't expect any of his callers to touch on those areas either, lest it lead to a discussion such as we are having here.
She says slots are some of the worst odds there. Video poker isn't great either.
She says the passline in craps is the odds in the place.
1) There are probably numerous video poker machines.. Numerous types from numerous vendors.
2) I bet you can adjust the odds, as you can with a slot machine. (there's a microcontroller in there, don't be fooled into thinking it's merely spinning wheels with ratchet mechanisms. No-no.)
I am not sure if this is a backhanded insult, but if it is.. I certainly don't deserve it.
There are 2 different issues here. The stock market was originally devised as a perfectly legitimate method of raising money for companies and providing value measurements and liquidity to the investors. But there has always been a tendency to turn it into raw speculation. For example, with things like day trading.
If you are Warren Buffet who only buys stocks in companies that he believes will grow quickly and produce increasing streams of profits, and you buy significant shares of these companies as a percentage of your own portfolio and as a percentage of the company's market cap, then you are not speculating, you are investing. But if you are watching the minute-by-minute, day-by-day ups and downs of stocks for which you only know the ticker symbol and aren't even sure what business the company is in, then you are gambling, just like being in Las Vegas.
It's also worthwhile to remember that Wall Street takes a "house cut" just as substantial as Las Vegas. The "overhead" costs will kill you if you aren't lucky when you're gambling on Wall Street, as opposed to investing. That's why in the classic book on Wall St. investing (whose title I momentarily forget), on the first page he takes you to the harbor in Manhattan and shows you all the yachts belonging to the brokers and reminds you that there are precious few that belong to the "investors."
I don't know why they would list this as a cultural indicator. Perhaps I'm showing my cultural ignorance since I've never set foot in an American casino, are they terrible places? On the television they always seem quite glam, and all the casinos I've visited in Europe and Britain have been very nice and upmarket.
Lots of people are in stocks who shouldn't be. However, even with the broker's cut, the average diversified long term invester usually beats the market, especially if his approach to investing avoids high risk stocks and avoids frequently taking new stakes. By contrast, all gambling is high risk, all involves frequently making new bets, and it is almost impossible to come out ahead long-term in gambling. As far as casino gambling is concerned, consistent winners are tagged as card counters and subsequented barred from gambling.
Low stakes social gambling is often harmless fun, but I don't like the whole thing. Bill Bennett isn't particularly anti-gambling, so this news story really isn't justified as news. However, I can't believe he is other than ashamed of being such a heavy gambler. I certainly tell my kids not be become gamblers, and I don't think it right to work in the gaming industry either.
I have no problem with gambling but most of the Vegas casinos have burlesque shows, are filled with hookers, drug addicts and alcoholics. They are not places for a guy to be frequenting if he wants to keep his self-imposed title of Mr. Virtue.
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