There is an old saying that goes something like this: “Vice can never be a pathway to virtue.” In Matthew 10:16, Jesus told His disciples, “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Serpents were considered wise because they shied away from danger. The snow-white appearance of a dove would remind them they were to represent virtue and be harmless when confronted by an enemy.
Today’s wolves would certainly include the gambling interests, who are constantly trying to find an opening in South Carolina to exploit our worst passions for financial gain. Gambling didn’t become a $53 billion industry in the U.S. ($704 billion worldwide) by having more winners than losers. The cost to both winners and losers, and the cost to the state that embraces gambling as a means of revenue, is most often devastating. A report by H2 Gambling Capitol, an industry data market company, reveals that Americans are on course to lose over $1 trillion in personal wealth to government-sanctioned gambling over the next four years.
The shame and hopelessness gambling brings to individuals and families can lead to a much greater tragedy than just the loss of money. The estimated lifetime divorce rate for compulsive gamblers is 53 percent. The National Council on Problem Gambling reports that approximately 20 percent of individuals diagnosed with a gambling disorder or addiction will attempt suicide. That is a higher percentage than any other addictive behavior. The break-up of families and the financial devastation to individuals who become addicted — coupled with the rise in suicide rates — combine to make gambling a terrible bet for South Carolina.
The deceptive nature of gambling is revealed in the name and description of the bill that passed the House this session. H3514 is called “the S.C. Equine Advancement Act.” But as you begin to read the text of the bill, it doesn’t take long to find its true purpose. Hidden behind innocuous language purporting to “assist the growth and development of the Equine Industry,” and “establish the South Carolina Equine Commission” (just what we need, more state bureaucracy) and provide grants for the equine industry, we find this: “to provide guidelines for pari-mutuel wagering.”
Pari-mutuel wagering is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool. Taxes and the “house-take” are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets. The particular type of wagering for South Carolina would be wagers placed on horse racing.
The bill is not a good deal financially for South Carolina. Ninety percent of the money goes to the gambling industry, 5 percent to “administrative costs” and 5 percent for grants to the equine industry. The vast majority of the money will benefit the gambling industry, not South Carolina.
Since the main purpose of this bill is to introduce pari-mutuel gambling to the state, the sponsors of the bill engage in what journalists call “burying the lead,” emphasizing the ends rather than the means. Think of it this way: It would be like a newspaper writing a story on the sinking of the Titanic with the headline, “Icebergs of the North Atlantic.”
Why not just come right out and tell everyone, “Hey, we want to open the door to pari-mutuel betting in South Carolina”? It could be that Joe Cunningham, the recently dispatched candidate for Governor running on the Democrat side, made the return of gambling to South Carolina a central plank of his campaign. When you consider the fact he lost by 18 percent of the vote, you can see why pro-gambling lawmakers might want to bury the lead.
South Carolinians have plenty of experience with kudzu. Wherever it grows, if it is left alone, it will consume whatever is in the area and then spread until it consumes everything. That is the nature of gambling. We know that because the last time we flirted with gambling, video-poker parlors popped up all over the state. It took a tough fight and a ruling by the South Carolina Supreme Court to get rid of it, and we are still fighting leftover forms of it today.
The South Carolina Senate should refuse to pass this bill. If it does pass, Gov. McMaster should veto. If the equine industry needs revitalization, I’m sure we can find a way to help the horse industry get back on its feet without knocking South Carolina families and individuals off of theirs.