A terrible bet: North Carolina should not cave in to the sports gambling onslaughtA terrible bet: North Carolina should not cave in to the sports gambling onslaughtNorth Carolina elected leaders have enacted several ineffective and misleading laws over the years, but when it comes to undermining public confidence in government and taking advantage of vulnerable people, the badly misnamed “education lottery” has to be near the bottom of any “worst of” list. Indeed, lottery ads still promote this fiction. Now, sadly, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers wants to double down on this losing bet with an even more dangerous and exploitive proposal: legalized sports betting. Under a bill introduced in the state House this week, North Carolina would plunge head-first into murky and toxic waters by transforming millions of cellphones, tablets, laptops and PCs into 24-hour-a-day casinos. For well over a century, both American government and sports have done just fine while keeping powerful gambling interests at arm’s length.

Source: New York Times March 14, 2023 10:25 UTC