Recently, local maquinintas establishments have made the news once again and equipment has been seized from certain places. According to local law enforcement, laws and regulations were being broken so these places had to be shut down. To me, that's all fine and dandy for the reason that I'm not much of a gambler. However, my question is this. How are maquinitas and their gambling nature different from the state sponsored lottery? Both seem to prey on the elderly and the least economically-viable. Both seem to be impulsive and addictive. Both seem to be a tremendous waste of money to be person playing, but a great source of revenue for the person selling. If we go after maquinitas, why not go after the Texas Lottery as well. Someone please enlighten me. I'm such an ignoramus.
(Update: Comment found on forum at LMT. Copy and pasted on here.)
1stepforward2stepsback wrote on Jun 17, 2009 5:01 PM:
" 1970's Las Vegas in Laredo. Crime has infiltrated our City. 8-liners are breeding grounds for crime. Money laundering comes to mind. Get rid of them. They are sucking the retirees money away. Let's tell the 8-lners owners that the taxpayer owns Laredo. Send a strong message to our elected officials. Vote them all out in the next election. We don't want maquinitas. Remember the 1970's and early 80's. The mob nearly destroyed Vegas. The mob will destroy Laredo because Laredo is no Vegas. "
" 1970's Las Vegas in Laredo. Crime has infiltrated our City. 8-liners are breeding grounds for crime. Money laundering comes to mind. Get rid of them. They are sucking the retirees money away. Let's tell the 8-lners owners that the taxpayer owns Laredo. Send a strong message to our elected officials. Vote them all out in the next election. We don't want maquinitas. Remember the 1970's and early 80's. The mob nearly destroyed Vegas. The mob will destroy Laredo because Laredo is no Vegas. "
Maybe this person is on to something here. Maybe.