Graphic courtesy of opensecrets.org

We learned a couple of weeks ago where Congressman Clay’s true loyalties lie. It is sadly with his puppet masters in the notorious “rent to own” industry. According to opensecrets, two of the top four contributors to Mr. Clay this year are a national rent to own chain and the industry’s trade group.

Not content to let his majority African American constituents be sucked dry by these bloodsuckers, Clay wants to open another vein by allowing online gambling:

“We should not be so naive to think that we are going to do away with gambling by passing that (2006) law. I think $42 billion is a significant sum that the federal government needs to fund some of the programs that are worthy and that Americans benefit from.” Read more…

That $42 billion dollars that Clay says the “government needs” will be nothing more than a regressive tax on the very people who can afford it least, his African American constituents.

“With African-Americans and other minority groups having both problem and pathological gambling rates that are 2-3 times higher than Caucasian gamblers, accurate diagnosis is essential to treat gambling addiction,” says Renee Cunningham-Williams, Ph.D., a leading gambling addictions expert and visiting associate professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis. Unfortunately, as with other mental health disorders, African-American and other minority groups receive disparate care from symptom recognition and diagnosis through treatment” Read more…

“Among African Americans age 65 and older, 17 percent are pathological gamblers and another 19 percent are problem gamblers? Economist Earl Grinols estimates that nearly 41 percent of casino revenues come from problem and pathological gamblers.” Read more…

Shame on you Congressman Clay!

Comments

comments