Open a Casino and a Beer Distributor, Mr. Government

Bailouts, government loans, and recession have all been a large part of the recent news, and our own vocabulary.

While institutions across the country are reporting massive losses and significant decreases in sales, two industries in Pennsylvania are defying the odds.

Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania beer distributors have reported up to seven percent increases in sales this past year. While larger distributors and beer breweries are reporting major losses, Pennsylvania hasn't stopped drinking.

Owners of different area distributors have all said that sales to bars and taverns are down and therefore these entertainment venues are obviously experiencing less patronage. This does not mean that people quit consuming alcohol; it just means they are doing it at home.

While the bottom line of bar owners is decreasing, distributor sales are increasing as more and more people find it cheaper to consume their beverages in the comfort of their own home, rather than paying higher prices elsewhere. We heard a few months ago that grocery stores are reporting gains in sales, as people who are trying to save money anyway they can have stopped frequenting restaurants and diners.

Another area of entertainment in Pennsylvania has also reported massive increases in their income. Casinos have reported an overall jump in revenue from November 2007 to November 2008 of more than $14 million for just this one month. This figure did not include any revenue from the state's newest casino, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course.

Between January 1, 2008 and November 30, 2008, seven casinos contributed $1.32 billion, yes billion, to state government agencies. That is 55 percent of the entire $2.4 billion casino take in less than one year. The money the state and counties receive from casinos in Pennsylvania helps with county budgets and property tax relief.

Therefore Mr. Government, I suggest the following mostly due to the deficit which is now well over $10 trillion.

Step One:

Open a few beer distributors in Schuylkill County. Use the profits to recover some of the large deficit. While a small step, what you are doing now is worse, because it's nothing.

Step Two:

Open some grocery stores. People are hungry, and have little money to buy food. Opening a grocery store, with lower prices to help the people and again feed the profits to reverse our country's deficit. Another small step, but it would help the deficit and people who are living on twenty-cent Ramen Noodles for the last year.

Step Three: The biggest.

While I do realize that Pennsylvania casinos do plunge a large portion of the profits to local and state government, federal government should open their own casino. The state has seen over $1 billion from seven casinos profits in 2008. If the government owned and operated their own casino, 100 percent of the profits could be poured into reversing the deficit. With seven casinos, the deficit could be reduced by $2 billion, or more, in one year.

While I wait for the critics to throw tomatoes at me, take five minutes to think about it. Who wouldn't love to save on groceries? People are obviously still enjoying the consumption of their favorite beer, and who wouldn't love to play a slot machine where in the bonus round you get to throw virtual darts at Mr. Bush, or even better still, shoot a virtual Osama Bin Laden with a virtual M-16.

Take another five minutes to think about the jobs this would create. Hundreds, maybe even a thousand or so, jobs could be created in Pennsylvania alone. State government already runs liquor stores, so the argument over government and alcohol sales is useless.

These increases in sales and income are fact in Pennsylvania. The reality of the increase in revenue should be more than obvious that the government could better itself by helping the people. Providing lower cost food and more avenues of entertainment would probably win more consumer support than the measly $600 stimulus check I didn't receive in 2008.

Think outside the oval office, or Washington, Mr. Government. There really are more options than the politicians are considering.

sources:

http://www.republicanherald.com/articles/2009/01/17/news/local_news/pr_republican.20090117.a.pg3.pr17beer_s1.2236216_loc.txt

http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article.cfm?contentId=176181

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/