Gambling on a new stadium

It looks like there will be a new stadium, home to the Colts, conventions, Final Four basketball, and probably even a tractor pull or two. The model looks quite attractive, a welcome addition to the Indianapolis skyline.

The Colts news article doesn't discuss the proposed financing for at least part of the cost: gambling. Some people don't like it. It is proposed that the gambling includes video pulltabs, which look like slot machines but pay out like pulltab lottery tickets (with preset winning tickets).

Personally, I'd prefer real slot machines. Although I don't play slots, I am impressed by the many fun machines in Las Vegas, particularly the all-video fifteen-symbol machines with animated bonus rounds (Reel 'Em In, for example).

And I don't have a fundamental objection to gambling. I gamble, even buying the occasional lottery ticket. (For $5, I can fantasize about winning the lottery. And half the money supports the government.) It's a voluntary tax, which I definitely support. (Voluntary taxes on the rich don't have a high rate of acceptance, as anecdotally discussed here.)

Some people complain about how gambling (and taxes on tobacco and alcohol) disproportionately hit the poor. But let me repeat: It's a voluntary tax. No one has to gamble. Personally, I'm glad to live in a nation where we can exercise poor judgment. The alternative is to have no freedom to control our own lives.