John Stossel on Gambling Regulations
Did you fill out a March Madness bracket this year? In many states, if you put money in a pool, it's illegal. Politicians can't quite make up their minds about gambling: They approve certain casinos and promote state lotteries but crack down on sports bets and charity poker games. It seems that government dislikes gambling unless government gets to be the house, John Stossel writes.
After locking up bookies for "dangerous and criminal" activities, most states now offer much worse odds in state lotteries. Then they take money from taxpayers to advertise their scams while simultaneously warning us of gambling's dangers. As with so many other activities, writes Stossel, the government says it knows best about gambling and then makes matters much worse.