Should We Legalize Gambling Everywhere in the USA - Essay Example

In the U.S, gambling is legalized while in others it is illegal. After observing the impacts of gambling- casinos- on the economy, there has been a hot debate on whether gambling should be legalized everywhere in the U.S. or not. When looking at the impact of gambling on the US’s economic growth and development, it is apparent that gambling is supposed to be legalized everywhere in the U.S. For instance, Americans will gamble away, that is, lose approximately $90 billion this year in casinos from coast to coast, in slot parlors from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Shore, at racetracks, and in lotteries throughout the country (Evans & Hance 99).

Gambling should be legalized everywhere in the U.S. due to the fact that the gambling industry including casinos, particularly those that become gamblers’ destination produce both private works for dealers, waiters, tellers and among others, and public cash from taxes on revenues, agreements with American Indian tribes and the overflow from tourists. On most occasions, there has been a capital investment and economic development depending on the type of gaming. There has also been a creation of revenue and production of jobs.

According to Evans & Hance (144), gambling also creates revenues for everybody. For instance, Tunica, Miss., a place referred to as America’s Ethiopia by Rev. Jesse Jackson in the 1980s due to its wretched poverty had its county budget ballooning from $3 million to $51 million, and schools have been augmented by $50 million since its first casino was opened in 1991. Infrastructures have been highly developed as indicated with the presence of new roads, sewers, water mains, a $26 million riverfront park, and $10 million in recreational facilities.

Nearly all these infrastructures are paid for by tourists from places such as Chicago, St. Luis, Memphis, and Little Rock who drop $1.2 billion dollars annually in tunica’s nine casinos. Clifton Johnson, a native who left Tunica in the 1980s for best fortunes in Dallas, came home following the opening of the casino and is currently the county administrator asserted that the gaming industry actually creates revenues for everybody.