Could Poker Pay for College?
How would you like to send your kid to college for just $1,000 dollars per year? That covers everything – tuition, books, even room and board. Now, what if I told you the rest of your kid’s costs were paid for by gambling?
That’s PA Governor Ed Rendell’s latest plan for off-setting the high cost of higher education. He says there are up to 20,000 illegal video poker machines operating in bars and social clubs across the state. He wants the state to get a cut of all those $1s and $5s, by legalizing the machines, taking 50 percent of the profits, and putting the money toward education.
Students or parents making less than $100,000 a year would qualify to cash in.
PA State Representative Duane Milne is a political science professor who teaches at West Chester University, one of the state schools that would benefit from the governor’s plan. But Representative Milne plans to vote against the proposal, saying it teaches students that their education goals can be obtained through a “cheap fix”.
Rep Milne would like to see the people of Pennsylvania vote on the proposal in a referendum. But that’s not likely as the Governor hopes to pass the plan in time to help college freshmen starting school in the fall.
What do you think? Is the plan worth betting on?
done
PS – A special thank you to all my Philly friends and family who tried to help me find those illegal and apparently elusive video poker machines!
Kathleen Foster has been with FNC as a field producer since 1996. She
says she’s never had a dull day, with her job taking her all around the
world – from the New York bureau to the Middle East. 
Why stop there? To the common good cause of education, let’s also put drugs in vending machines. Press A-5 for Acapulco Gold, B-9 for Crack, D-14 for Cocaine and let Rendell & Co. reap half the profits. He could also outfit the hookers and call girls with metered chastity belts with debit card readers. They could be directly linked via WiFi to Harrisburg so Ed could keep an eye on the revenue stream.
I’m all for legalizing the “victimless vices”, but the politicians insist that they are illegal until they can get a piece of the pie.
Glenn,
Our founding fathers had a healthy distrust for government, knowing the corruptive influence that power has on the human psyche, hence the second ammendment. My question is, what is the point at which the erosion of our constitutional liberties becomes so blatant that average citizen feels compelled to exercise his or her right to bear arms against a government that is rapidly becoming fertile ground for tyranny? Certainly, this is the sole reason why we have such an ammendment in our constitution, as defense of our country is handled by the military, not gun toting civilians; and as frightening as the prospect of revolt is, who would second guess the wisdom of our forefathers in providing such a last resort to protect what so many men and women have already given their lives to secure, our freedom?
I guess that was two questions.
Dave