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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.