Gambling revenue not same as taxes | BrainerdDispatch.com |
Brainerd, Minnesota  Gambling revenue not same as taxes
Posted: February 8, 2012 - 5:35pm  As Minnesota’s Legislature
ponders the intricacies of getting a new stadium for the
Minnesota Vikings built, and how to pay for it, the issue of
increasing gambling revenues keeps coming up.  Racino backers
want the state to allow slot machines at the state’s two horse
racing tracks. Some propose allowing a partnership between the
state and Indian tribes, allowing the tribes to build a casino
in downtown Minneapolis. Others say let’s just build our own
casinos. Still others propose electronic pulltabs and other
kinds of gambling.  There are some objections to this idea. Some
say conservative legislators would violate their pledges not to
raise taxes for any reason whatsoever. Some legislators say that
gambling revenue is not really a tax, since no one is forcing
anyone to gamble. Government levies income taxes, sales taxes
and property taxes that we have to p