Gambling undermines the work ethic and leads people to seek to profit by causing loss to others. There is absolutely no way to win in a casino without the majority of other people losing their money. The big time winners are the casino owners that rake in millions from the losses of their fellow human beings.
Some argue, “Gamblers are just paying for a form of entertainment.” However, in legitimate entertainment the entertainers or artists are paid a predetermined fee for providing this service to others. But gamblers are all providing the same “service” for one another; The gambler does not want the other players to profit; he wants them to lose, as that is the only way a small minority of gamblers can ever win anything in a casino. The “entertainment” argument has no intellectual or logical validity, it is simply a falsehood, a manipulation, propaganda for casino operators to bilk the public out of millions of dollars extracted from the economy. Most casinos do have an “entertainment venue”. I will admit that these venues do provide employment opportunities; usually for out of work, over the hill, oldies but goodies rock musicians.
The main revenue of a casino is derived from the losses of thousands of people… often the gamblers are elderly and on limited income. Warren Buffet is one of the most brilliant economic minds in the USA. According to Buffet, a casino extracts a tax from the poor and ignorant.
A casino is an extractive/exploitive scheme. A casino cannot claim to be a legitimate industry; there are no goods or services produced. A casino simply extracts funds that are already in the economy and redirects those funds to a tiny group of investors. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer in the casino equation.

Response to Todd Dormans direct question ,
The Vote No Coalition is in fact a coalition of several segments of our community that are organizing the thousands of local voters that voted NO during the last 2 Casino option elections to all work together and vote NO once again.

A coaltion works by having diverse groups discover a common objective.

This present Linn County election coalition includes 3 identifiable groups;
a. Voters that understand the economics of real economic development, that clealy understand that a casino operation extracts more from the economy than it delivers. It is a bad choice on pure economic facts. Warren Buffet is a clear example of this practical, informed citizen that oppose the economic illusion of gambling. It is well documented that lower income and fixed income elderly are a large segment of the Casino market. I am part of this first group. My arguments against the Casino are based on economic data.

b. “The No Dice” campaign that brought out a strong NO vote last time included people in the segment above such as Economist David Osterberg… along with tradional church congregations that cite the religious perspective of why Gambling is a social evil;

Biblical traditions teach thta one may be paid as compensation for work done to produce goods or services that benefit other people. Scripture strongly teaches this “work ethic.” Telling a lie is considered a sin. Selling people the illusion that they can get something for nothing, is selling an illusion, and is thus a lie, a dishonest act.
Here are some biblical quotes in this tradition;
1 Timothy 5:18 – The laborer is worthy of his wages. [Luke 10:7]
Ephesians 4:28 – Do not steal but labor at good (beneficial) work.
1 Thessalonians 4:11,12 – To meet our needs, we should do our own work for an income (not take what other people earned. A Casino takes from many losers and tranfers this to a few “winners”. Matt. 20:1-15; James 5:4]
2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 – Like Paul, people should work so they can eat their own bread (not other people’s bread). Gambling takes from many losers to deliver money to a few “winners”

We must not try to live off the labors of others. We can expect goods or services from others only as compensation for work we do that produces something of benefit (that which is good – Eph. 4:28).

Gambling undermines the Biblically based work ethic because, instead of accomplishing productive labor that benefits others, the gambler seeks to get something for nothing by taking what other people have earned through gambling.

Thousands of Linn County voters that come from this traditional moral argument against gambling were a very strong part of “NO Dice” campaign 10 years ago. They will be at the polls this time to vote NO for the Third time.

3. The third segment of our Coalition are those that are conviced that a Cedar Rapids Casino will canibalize the existing Casino operations, and that the Gambling market in Iowa is already very saturated.

All three groups are adding funding for this campaign. All three groups have come to the conclusion that they do not need to agree on all of
their objectives for a No Vote.
By working together in a “Coalition” each of these 3 definable segments will get what they are working for; A resounding “No” vote for the Third, and thus most likely the final time that the Gambling Scheme is offered to Linn County Voters.

Response to Rich Geer;
Iowa grew into an extremely strong econonic force with innovation and an exceptional work ethic. Our politians now have an addiction for more and more public funds, so extracting funds from the public is allowed by any means necessary. I am 62. When I was in my formative years, the only “lottery” were the “numbers rackets” managed by the MOB. Now we have a State Lottery that provides this activity. Casinos were operated as eploitive industries conducted by organized crime… now casinos have gone mainstream with a partnership of the state and casino operators. Iowa took a huge wrong turn by going down this slippery slope. As observed in the banking collapse of 2008, we have regressed to a “Casino Economy”.