Letters: Differing views on proposed mini-casino at the Nittany Mall
Casino a win for State College
We too are so very excited about a casino for our area. We come to State College for dining, shows and more every week. Now we and our friends have another reason to visit. In all my years in real estate on the East Coast, I have never seen property values decrease because of casinos, but rather increase. If you don’t drink you don’t have to go to a bar. If you don’t like football you don’t have to watch. If you don’t like to gamble, you don’t have to come to our casino. From what we have already heard, it’s a done deal. Hooray for State College!
Casino will tempt too many
I know what gambling is about. I’ve seen it alter unfavorably cultures that surrounds it. Having grown up in a family of thoroughbred horse owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys, I’ve witnessed how it rewards those with resources, mental skills, and self-discipline it takes to walk away with large sums of cash. I’ve also witnessed how it decimates the lives of the rest who have not those things.
A casino in our town will tempt too many average Penn State college students bereft of those skills, disciplines and resources. It’ll turn them from students into gambling addicts as they speed the short path up Route 26 from campus to the mall. It’ll ruin the work ethic our town depends on as it preys upon the weak elsewhere. And all along the route will pop up things like what the gambling casinos of Tampa Bay, Florida caused: pawn shops, bail bonders, and strip joints. Every community that cares anything about its safety will gate itself the way those communities in Florida had to gate themselves.
I don’t oppose any individual in their right mind who wants to place a friendly wager. But that’s not what we’re talking about. A casino in our town would be like running a 24-hour incinerator upwind from a gas station. Its effects will be too pervasive, deeply damaging, chronically enduring, and completely irreversible. I know. I’ve seen it happen elsewhere.
Let’s not allow a gambling casino to set up shop in our fine community of State College, Pennsylvania.
What’s behind gas prices?
Government can impact gas prices. For example, in Pennsylvania, the Oil Company Franchise Tax and the Liquid Fuels Tax add $0.576 per gallon to the price of gasoline in 2022. There’s also an $0.18 federal tax on gasoline, or about $0.76 in taxes on a gallon of gas. Most of these taxes are either used directly to fund road/bridge improvement — or disbursed to local municipalities for similar projects.
Conversations are currently underway here in Pennsylvania and at the federal level about a temporary moratorium on these taxes. Whether that happens remains to be seen. (See PA Transportation and Vehicle Code Omnibus Amendments, 2013 Act 89, and the PA Department of Revenue’s website on Motor Fuel Tax Rates.)
That said, sudden gas price changes are more directly affected by supply/demand issues, and not by the actions of any government official. Approximately 3% of sweet crude imported to the U.S. comes from Russia, with a total of 8% of imported oil or petroleum distillates coming from Russia. Therefore, cutting Russian imports has more impact on Russia’s economy than on U.S. gasoline prices.
Finally, yes, the U.S. produces enough oil to meet its needs if one looks at total gallon production, but economics and type of oil complicate matters. The March 8, 2022, article, “America Produces Enough Oil To Meet Its Needs, So Why Do We Import Crude?” by Matthew Tiller explains why.
And remember that when experts say “the US” imports or exports oil, they’re referring to U.S. companies, not the federal government.