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Gambling in the state of TexasThere has recently been a lot of speculation on a push towards legalizing gambling in the state of Texas. A bill was introduced by a Houston law maker that would expand on current gambling laws in Texas. Many Texans are against passing the bill to legalize gambling in the state, but some who are for the bill look to it from more of a financial aspect. Casino gambling across the Louisiana border 100 miles away is part of a business that rakes in from $2 to $4 billion dollars each year from Texas, according to various estimates. The Texas Gaming Association says that spending not only takes that money from the state's economy, it also costs the state $1.5 billion a year in tax revenue. Since casinos first came about in Louisiana in the mid-1990s, that state has spent the money it earns on things like highway construction, teacher salaries and even gambling-addiction treatment facilities and hotlines. Austin’s KXAN’s statewide poll showed 64 percent of Texans say they support casino gambling in the state. Among that group, political affiliation was not really a factor, as Republicans, Democrats and Independents showed their support in the 60-70 percent range. It could also provide more opportunities for more diverse forms of gambling in the state. But acknowledging these inevitable weaknesses and the truth that gambling really ought to be as minimally regulated as possible, the bill is about as good as we could expect to see out of the legislature. Most importantly it comes with the sponsorship of committee chair John Carona and the support of more Republicans than we’ve seen on board for a gambling bill in a long time. Most importantly is the entire population of the state gets a chance to vote to approve or reject it. But there are many people who reject this bill do to ethical or religious reasons. The bill’s major opposition comes from moral objectors who view gambling as a tax on the poor, a contributor to societal ills such as addiction and a magnet for organized crime. Some tea party groups have also objected to the idea of basing a major Texas economic engine on something they view as unstable.“It’s a very cyclical kind of economy,” said Jarrod Atkinson of the Dallas Tea Party. “Like Vegas, where when the economy went bad, man, did Las Vegas go bad. I don’t want that here. I want Texas to be built on good, long-term industries, not tourism [and] not something that’s going to go belly up as soon as the economy turns.” It is a defiantly fitting to let the people decide on whether or not gambling should be apart of the State of Texas, and to respect the decision of the residents and to take them in to consideration, although Gambling will bring in revenue in great amounts and possible jobs the bigger question should be the type of business and clientele that business produces. Is our Great State of Texas ready to be labeled or marked with that kind of reputation that proceeds or follows such conduct.

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Politically IncorrectPaying for School Mark, I agree with you 190%. I also believe the system does not justify hard work. When I first got out of High School, I decided to go to school out of state. I went to school in Iowa and had made it all the way to my 3rd year of college until I had reached the limit of my loans. I had taken out 3 too many. I got so backed up financially I could not continue to finish my last year of school, I simply could just not afford to go, I was working two jobs pulling over 40 hour weeks and was double majoring in school. I was renting and living in my own house and paying my own taxes, the funny part is that I still had to use my mother’s income towards my financial status (when filling out my fafsa towards my grant status) all the way up until I was to reach the age of 25, according to the laws of Iowa, regardless of my own financial status and living. The unfortunate part about that was that my Mom made decent money so I was left with the short side of the stick when it came to getting money back. The state of Iowa granted me $600 dollars to go to school for one semester, which was not even enough money for me to pay for my books for one semester alone. my books for a full semester was $700 dollars, so my next semester I had made a decision to only buy half of my books for my classes and just learned to take really good notes in the other classes. When one of my Professors had found this out around 90 % of completion of the class that I did not even have a book, he was a little mad. I did this for the next two years. I understood that nothing came easy in life and that everything required hard work, which helped me to get through some of the many stresses that my financial status had brought, but I wasn’t about to let anything stop me from getting my degree. I met some classmates later in the year who were considered unprivileged by the state of Iowa, either because of their financial status or having a child. Now, I totally agree with helping the unprivileged and would give my shirt off my back and my last meal too help those who are in need, and by no means am against helping the unprivileged, but I Was Unprivileged Myself, they probably ate better than me, had more money than I did, were able to buy all their books for class and the most important part was their mind was stress free from not having to worry about their finances like I was. Today this is why I am a republican and my views may be a little jaded based on my experience but I honestly thought In my last year, with the governmental system that we have in place towards helping the unprivileged in regards to grant money for school, Why don’t I just Adopt a child my junior year, rename him Grant and claim all that the state has to offer me my senior year, I would finish with a 4 year degree, and receive money from the state just for going to school and not have to worry about any finances, have all my books covered and extra spending money, no loans, more food, and then just give Grant back up to the state after my senior year. Now this is of course hypothetically speaking and although a great idea its just to emphasis on a point Im trying to make. The state does not reward hard work, just like in your case, I believe you worked real hard for those grades you got towards your undergrad and now to not be able to have any scholarships after what you achieved is kind of sad to hear. But I do believe that the person in the middle gets left out in our government system towards school fees and grants. It should not be so unfair and so challenging for a middle income student to go to school. I do believe that it all happened for a reason believe it or not and I am more than happy to be where I am currently and blessed and realize that there are a lot of people who do have it pretty bad, but I hope it all works out for you in the end.