Gamers should try a slice of humble pie
To the editor:
Big gaming thrives in the wake of record wins here, then wields ferocious wealth and power to sue the people to prevent an initiative to raise the gaming tax from appearing on the ballot. Meanwhile, we the people of Nevada “lead” the nation as foreclosures and violent crime seep and creep into all our schools and neighborhoods for the world to witness.
Gamers look askance as they seal themselves off within their guarded palaces, and put up private schools in their mighty names. They seem callous or grossly ignorant in the face of looming problems for public schools, teachers and neighborhoods.
Gamers may realize too late that even ivory towers parch, teeter and topple as Rome burns around them. The gaming industry and executives have a chance to be heroes by helping the community that sustains them.
Try a slice of humble pie … for once.
PAUL CONNAGHAN
LAS VEGAS
Taxing power
To the editor:
Regarding John Esperian’s “Taxes and respect” letter to the Review-Journal of Dec. 13, which quoted Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1904, “Taxes are the price society pays for civilization”:
It is useful to remember that Justice Holmes was born in 1841 and died in 1935. He lived his entire life in a time when government was an integral part of the fabric of society. A time when there was a genuine connection between the institution and the people. A time when he could make his comment and be assured it was valid.
That was then. Unfortunately, this is now.
Now is a time when there is little, if any, connection between government and the people. A time when government has unraveled the fabric of society by using its insular compensation system to inoculate itself from the economic risks and hardships faced by the mass of people in the private sector. Today, taxes are paid not just for a civil society, but to finance an ever-expanding and more controlling government infrastructure whose “price” has gotten much too high.
By the way, in the Panhandle Oil v. Knox case in 1928, the same Justice Holmes wrote, “The power to tax is not the power to destroy while this Court sits.” Perhaps in the quarter-century between the two quotes, Justice Holmes observed just how dangerous and corrupting the power of taxation can be, especially when it’s used not just for the benefit of society in general, but more for the benefit of government in particular.
KNIGHT ALLEN
LAS VEGAS
Turning tide
To the editor:
In the same week that Clark County filed 17 criminal charges against Harrah’s employees or contractors in the hotel remodeling scandal, New Jersey regulators refused to renew the Tropicana’s gaming license. Congratulations to Clark County Manager Virginia Valentine and the members of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission for doing the right thing, despite undoubtedly heavy political pressure to sweep it all under the rug.
I think both are major events. In the past, casinos have usually gotten a “free pass” when shown to have engaged in various types of wrongdoing. A slap on the wrist, or no penalty at all, just being told “Don’t do it again,” has been the norm, especially in Nevada. It has taken civil action by the aggrieved parties to see any semblance of justice meted out.
Have the many successful civil lawsuits against casinos for patron abuse had any effect on the overall view held by the authorities? Have the people in government who are honorable and not in the pockets of the casino industry begun to see that not everyone thinks casinos should control the government and get away with whatever they want? Or am I being too optimistic — these two cases are isolated events, and it’ll otherwise be business as usual, especially in regard to patron abuse?
I hope the tide is finally turning.
AL ROGERS
LAS VEGAS
Important works
To the editor:
Your “Fifth Annual Season of Giving” promotional ad supplement had one major flaw: It omitted the largest social services provider in the world and one of the largest in Southern Nevada, the Salvation Army.
This Christmas in Las Vegas alone, 16,000 youngsters will have a Christmas because of the Salvation Army. Shall we discuss the 200 families a day, 52 weeks a year, who receive food boxes from the Army? But I guess that also is not noteworthy.
Shall we also discuss the gift cards to grocery stores that will be given out to about 1,000 families so they can have a Christmas or holiday dinner? I guess that isn’t important either.
CHARLES DESIDERIO
LAS VEGAS
THE WRITER IS DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING FOR THE SALVATION ARMY IN LAS VEGAS.
