From the Libertarian Party website:
In the face of New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman’s issuing of cease-and-desist orders to fantasy sports operators DraftKings and FanDuel, the Libertarian Party calls for the state of New York and every other state-run gambling operation to immediately shut down their immoral and hypocritical operations.
One only needs to stand at a check-out counter where working poor dump the bulk of their disposable income into reels of state lottery tickets every day to witness the devastation that state lotteries wreak on the vulnerable.
Yet politicians have the audacity to call private gambling a “social ill.”
Not only is this egregiously hypocritical, it covers up the state’s own racket.
Greedy politicians use state lotteries to gouge gullible players, paying out only a fraction of what private operators pay out.
New York payouts are no more than 40-75% of ticket sales. That is to say, it pockets a whopping 25-60% of revenue.
In contrast, online gambling websites pay out 96-98% on average. Typical Las Vegas casinos payout over 99% on slot machines and poker games. Plus they throw in entertainment and free drinks.
In other words, the New York government pockets 25 to 60 times as much as casino operators do. Business is great when you can outlaw competition.
State governments not only play by very different rules than they impose on others; they break their own rules.
The Illinois state lottery held back paying winners as promised this year due to a budget impasse. They’re issuing IOUs instead. Yet no one is coming by with a crow bar to crack their knees for stiffing their customers.
State government lotteries are the real social ill. They run taxpayer-funded ads to lure their customers into buying addictive lottery tickets. They shut down their competitors under the threat of fines and imprisonment, forming state-sanctioned monopolies. Then they gouge their customers with pathetic, piddling payouts.
“Schniederman isn’t going after Draft Kings and FanDuel to protect New Yorkers, he’s going after them to crush competition for the New York lottery,” said Nicholas Sarwark, Chair of the Libertarian National Committee. “It’s supposed to be the job of attorneys general to break up the rackets that prey on poor people, not protect them.”
Unlike state lotteries, private gambling operators are fair and civil to their customers. They do not use force to suppress their competitors. Instead, they respond to competition by giving their customers a better deal.
“We call on New York and other state governments to cease-and-desist these bullying tactics,” said Sarwark, “and for the repeal of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) that government uses to stop Americans from making an honest wager.”
The LP should put up petitions like that when it comments on issues in press releases, blog posts and social media, to help build their lists of supporters and database of which issues their supporters and people stopping by their website or social media pages or getting on their email list care about.
Anyone interested in this issue should consider signing this petition:
https://www.fanduel.com/FantasyForAll
Not sure why we are discussing Soltysik on this thread rather than the thread about Soltysik that was just posted, and capitalism is not the same thing as free markets, although much like Jim, I suspect Soltysik would like to conflate the two together.
Just want to point out that Mimi Soltysik is a he, not a she.
Thanks, Jim. I thought you meant that IPR people wanted to make government larger.
Jill Pyeatt: You quoted and said: “Jim said: ?Government is hypocritical. But we all knew that, didn?t we? And some people around here just want to make government larger and more intrusive.?
“How so, Jim?”
Simple. From https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2015/11/town-hall-interview-with-socialist-party-usas-presidential-candidate-mimi-soltysik/
“Mimi: I don?t think we?re going to soften the message about the need to destroy capitalism. Any approach we take with this campaign is not going to be a reform-based message. The goal here is ultimately revolution. There are more than enough folks working on reform-based stuff. At the top is a no-holds-barred approach to destroying capitalism, knowing that inherent to capitalism [are] all these forms of oppression: racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. Also inherent to capitalism is climate change. So by moving forward in a direct, revolutionary way, we?re attacking those other issues that are inherent to capitalism.”
She continues:
“Now, do I think that if a socialist revolution were to happen there would be bloodshed? Absolutely, I do. There is no way (and I think that we see this all the time) the capitalist is going to concede power without a fight, and we?re likely talking about a fight to the death? I think as we make advances, that response is going to be incredible. So do we say as socialists, as we make our advances, ?Go ahead and slaughter us, and you?ll get no response?? I don?t think that pacifism in the face of violent repression is necessarily a rational response. We see already?the state [and] law enforcement murders people of color, so I don?t see how expecting people who are targets of the state to succumb and say, ?It?s okay, you can go ahead and kill me? makes any kind of sense. Often times I hear people say, ?Hey watch the violent talk.? The way I hear it, it almost feels like what they?re saying to me is, ?Well. I wish you weren?t here ?cause this is making me uncomfortable.? I think we have every right to organize to make forward progress and to have an awareness that as we do that we expect a response. We saw it with COINTELPRO with the Black Panther Party. I mean, that was assassination. With the military power that this country has and the incredible power of law enforcement, oh yes, they?re going to respond with force.
[end of quote]
“Capitalism” is really misnamed. It ought to be called “the free market”. And to “destroy capitalism” will require a government to do so, or to maintain that situation. This woman is cluelessly thinking that business is the root of all evil. It is far more accurate to say that GOVERNMENT is the root of all evil.
Jim said: “Government is hypocritical. But we all knew that, didn’t we? And some people around here just want to make government larger and more intrusive.”
How so, Jim?
Government is hypocritical. But we all knew that, didn’t we? And some people around here just want to make government larger and more intrusive.