UT/TT Poll: Texans Are Ready to Roll the Dice
A majority of the state's voters say they're ready for full-blown casino gambling, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll.
In a range of questions on social and other issues, they say they support requiring voters to produce photo IDs, government aid to the poor, the death penalty and requiring doctors to show sonogram results to women seeking abortions.
"The thing that stands out here is that gambling has been consistent [in previous polling]," says pollster Jim Henson, who teaches government and runs the Texas Politics Project at UT. "Texans are not ideologically opposed to ...
Comments (9)
Karen Cummings
I believe the poll question regarding sonograms is should women be forced to view a sonogram or forced to have the doctor explain fetal development. Forced is the key word or required or mandatory. Sonograms are pretty standard in pregnant women to establish week of gestation but I'm pretty darn sure a woman has the right to refuse a sonogram by law or any other medical procedure for that matter.
http://flaglerlive.com/9119/womens-rights-unborn-fetuses
Steve Portch via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Or we could keep letting the money go out of state...
j j
I see two problems:
1. Government oversight. This will require commitment from the state to setup and run a gambling commission. Does Texas currently have the money to do so?
2. It'll be a fad. The sweet tax revenue will be short-lived.
Margaret Metcalf via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Or..we as citizens could educate ourselves! Research all available statistics on the existing areas that have legal gambling and decide if we really want all unsavory elements that come with these. A "quick fix" always costs in the long haul.
Mary Lynn VanZandt Neill via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Hope it works better than the lottery.
namoyer
Talk is cheap, and Texans are the cheapest with their opinions. The only opinions that count are those of the few who actually vote, and cause Legislators/officeholders to be in office. Next time, this poll should screen between actual voters and the rest of the louts.
Proud Texan
There's a quote from the lottery debate that holds true, even today. "Gambling is a tax on stupidity"
The Lottery Commission's own numbers show that those who play the lottery the most, can afford it the least. The Texans who are in financial dire straits pin their hopes on a "false solution" to their problems and they only make matters worse. Then they show up at the local county hospital for uncompensated care that taxpayers pay for. They turn to crime, default on their bills, etc.. Not exactly the image of James Bond standing at the Baccarat table in Monte Carlo.
Oh, and if casinos are legalized, money will STILL LEAVE THE STATE and go to the owners of the casinos unless the tax rate is 100%.
Look at other states that have gambling. Are they immune from budget problems? Anyone, anyone? The answer is "no". This issue is nothing more than a ploy for the gambling industry to make more money on the backs of poor people.
Texas can do better than this.
namoyer
Look, if gambling is a tax on the stupid, then it should do exceptionally well here in TX; stop moralizing; make a better suggestion and follow through on it; TX is doing so badly in so many areas, don't blame gambling for these problems;
Vicki Rawlins McCuistion via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Polls are only as deep as their questions and how they are phrased. The death penalty poll is interesting with the " strongly" vs "somewhat". Polls across the country show dramatic number changes when the question is phrased "Do you favor the death penalty or life in prison without parole in capital crimes?"