Hundreds Protest Slot Machines

Hundreds of residents opposed to slot machines showed up at a rally to organize support against the bringing of the machines into the state of Maryland. Religious leaders around the state are concerned with Governor O’Malley’s intention of bringing in slot machines to help balance the budget, and held a rally to drum up support. They say that “few gain from gambling” and they are here to be “advocates for the least, for the last, and the lost.”

The governor had called a special session to discuss legalizing slot machines in the state, and religious groups reached out to residents to lean on their state legislators to keep them from approving the measure. They say that they have already made it very clear in the state that slot machines are not wanted, and therefore for the governor to talk about bringing them in goes against the wishes of his constituents.

They understand the plight of the government to have to come up with more money for the budget, but they say that slot machines are not the way to do that. The state is facing a $1.7 billion deficit, and slot machines could bring in more than half a billion dollars just on their own. However, religious leaders say that this money would come from those that can least afford to lose it.

The group admits to being weaker than ever before, but they say that no matter what they have to fight for those that cannot fight for themselves. They say this bill is a tax on the poor, and a tax on the weak for the majority of the money that the government is counting on would be coming from the less educated and gambling addicts. They say that for the lottery, a recent analysis showed that 80% of their profits come from the poorest parts of the state, proving that it will not be the rich making up the difference, but those that can ill afford to lose the money the state would be spending.

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