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Sports gambling in Alabama should not be used to create new spending

Alabama’s gambling mouthpieces were out in force yesterday on social media after a Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for states to regulate sports gambling. There is no question that Alabama could use this revenue, that is obvious whether you want higher taxes or not. But for some people, it will NEVER be enough, even if we “fully-funded” our needs, people would call for more. Some won’t even wait for that. The Alabama Political Reporter’s Josh Moon used this opportunity to call for more spending:

Why this matters:

Alabamians can already gamble on sports. I placed this bet at 7:30 this morning to prove it.

https://twitter.com/TheDaleJackson/status/996368278539980800

Keep in mind, these are the same people that will tell you our current education system is under-funded, as is our healthcare system, and our bridges and roads too. None of that matters, they will just continue to call for new programs and new spending. No matter how much is generated, more will be demanded because the beast is never satiated.

All of this is a long shot, but Alabama has real needs, and IF Alabama is able to legalize this gaming, the money should be spent to fix our roads and bridges.

The details:

— Polarizing sports analyst claims Alabama is the #1 state per capita for sports betting.
— ESPN is tracking states preparing to enter the sports gambling market; it lists 19 states that have introduced bills or passed bills concerning this matter.
— Nevada’s Gaming Control reported there was $4.8 billion bets in Nevada sports books last year.
— DraftKings’s CEO claims there is $150 billion in illegal bets each year through black market sports books.

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