http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/08/26/casinos_and_the_american_way/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+–+Jeff+Jacoby+columns

Casinos and the American way
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | August 26, 2007

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So it goes, year after year, in state after state: Entrepreneurs and investors who ought to have the same freedom to operate a casino as they would to open a shoe store or start a newspaper are forced instead to run an exhausting and expensive political gauntlet, often with no guarantee that casino gambling will even be permitted, let alone that they’ll win a license to build one. How many other peaceful businesses offering a popular form of entertainment face such formidable legal and political barriers to entry?

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It’s that the politician want more “slush money”. Usually Jeff is more perceptive about motivations. Motivations of politicians are very transparent — more. More control of the people. More money to “do good”. Of course, if along the way a little change falls into the pockets of their friends, family, and themselves, so much the better.

Argh!

The marketplace is Lady Liberty’s friend. It makes everything transparent. If we had truly free markets in gambling, then the politicians would be able to steal from either your losings or your winnings. If we had a free market in drugs, there’d be no collateral damage. If we had a free market in products, everything would be cheaper. If we had a free market in money, there’d be no inflation tax. And on and on and on.

See the free market is like a global election with every small purchase. If we had free markets, how would politicians “save” us? They’d have to go find honest work!

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