America COMMENTARY
Imperial Washington’s Private Bubble
BY JOHN STOSSEL T
he senate did something last March that it hasn’t done in four
years: passed a budget. It wants to add a trillion dollars of new taxes, even more than President Barack Obama seeks. When the housing bubble burst,
home prices dropped in most of America, but not in Washington. Our capital feeds off federal spending, and politicians won’t allow that bubble to burst. One result is that, today, for the fi rst time, most of America’s richest counties are in the Washington area.
JOHN STOSSEL
John Stossel is an author and host of Fox Business Network’s Stossel. His latest book is No, They Can’t: Why Government Fails — But Individuals Succeed.
As government grows, more
money fl ows to lobbyists, trade groups, and others who live close to those who pass out your money. Tourists visit Washington and
admire the beautiful buildings. All that marble once made me feel patriotic too, but now I get angry. Today’s union headquarters
resemble palaces. The biggest teachers union, the National Education Association, built a $100 million Washington headquarters that it calls “an environmental oasis.” The AFL-CIO’s beautiful lobby
features a giant mosaic made of marble, glass, and gold. When I tried to take pictures so TV
viewers could see the elegance, I was told to leave. It’s true that there’s more wealth on Wall Street, but Congressman
Alan Gordon, D-Fla., points out that there’s a big diff erence between those fat cats and Washingtonians. “In the private sector, if you fi nd
a way to cut costs, you’re a hero. If you fi nd a way to cut costs in the [government] bureaucracy, you’re a goat.” You’re a “goat” because cutting waste hurts the lobbyists who feed off taxpayers. With trillions of dollars at stake, corporations and special interests would be crazy not to lobby. Lobbyists and taxpayer-funded special privilege won’t go away unless big government does. We all tend to overspend and act
lazy when we can get away with it. In the private sector, though, that eventually means that you get fi red or realize you’re depleting your bank account. In Washington, the Fed just prints more money.
Betting on States to Bolster Budgets C
BY MELANIE BATLEY
ash-strapped states like illinois, new jersey, and California are eyeing sports betting as a way to
bridge budget gaps, given the fact the March Madness bas- ketball championship reaped millions for the handful of states that allow wagering on college and pro sports. According to The New York Times, federal law permits
sports betting in only four states — Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon. But California, Illinois, and New Jer- sey are pressing for admission to the club, despite strong opposition from the National Collegiate Athletic Associa- tion and major sports leagues. “The NCAA maintains that the spread of
legalized sports wagering is a threat to the integrity of athletic competition and student- athlete well-being,” the college sports over- sight organization said in a statement report- ed by the Times on Thursday. At stake, however, are millions of dollars state
20 NEWSMAX | MAY 2013
offi cials may be unwilling to turn their backs on, despite concerns that betting creates an atmosphere that attracts fraud, including game-rigging. Nevada, the gaming capital of the world, took in $3.4 billion last year alone from sports betting and $15 million of it was deposited directly into state tax-revenue coff ers. In New Jersey, voters recently passed a referendum
by an overwhelming margin to make sports betting legal, and last year Republican Gov. Chris Christie signed a law expanding gaming at Atlantic City’s 12 casinos to include sports betting. But the eff orts have gone nowhere because the federal courts have upheld the current ban on sports betting, with the exception of the four states where it’s allowed. Still, other states are joining New Jersey in
pushing back against the federal ban, which could end up being challenged before the Supreme Court.
BASKETBALL, MONEY/ISTOCKPHOTO
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