All the tell-tale signs are there—the inability to deal with reality, the belief that the big pay-off is imminent, the delusion that they can indeed get something for nothing, the obsession with money. That's right, the politicians in Tallahassee have a gambling addiction and it appears few are aware of their problem.

In the rush to find more revenue in the cash-strapped state budget, it will be the citizens of Florida who will pay if Gov. Charlie Crist and the Legislature can't kick their gambling revenue habit.

Whether it's the introduction of video lottery terminals at pari-mutuels all across the state, the loosening of regulations on the Las Vegas-style slot machines in Broward County, expanded card room hours at pari-mutuels, or an impending compact agreement Gov. Crist is seeking with the state's Indian casinos, Florida is on the verge of a massive expansion of gambling which portends more broken families, financial ruin, crime and other social costs that far outweigh any gains in new tax revenues to balance the state budget.

Much of the current fixation with gambling revenues stems from citizens' very narrow adoption of constitutional Amendment 4 in 2004, which permitted Broward and Miami-Dade counties to hold local referendums to authorize the introduction of Vegas-style slots at its pari-mutuel facilities. Broward later approved the slots, while Miami-Dade rejected them. However, the slots amendment approval has set in motion the gambling obsession in Tallahassee.

The politicians' addiction to gambling revenue, however, is so severe few of them appear to be aware of the fact that the Florida Supreme Court will be hearing arguments this spring concerning constitutional questions raised as a result of a lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of petition signatures used to get Amendment 4 on the ballot in the first place. If the gambling industry loses in the courts, the slots in Broward County will have to be shut down—and those politicians in Tallahassee will have to look elsewhere for tax revenues.

Before voters went to the polls in 2004, Floridians Against Expanded Gambling (FAEG) filed a lawsuit in September 2004 attempting to have the initiative stricken from the ballot after it found evidence of "massive fraud," including the use of signatures of dead and "phantom" voters while collecting the necessary petitions to put the matter on the ballot.

Investigating just the petitions gathered in slots-friendly Broward County, FAEG found a whopping 68 percent of supposed petition signers interviewed "stated unequivocally that they did not sign any petition in support of the Slots Initiative," the lawsuit maintained. Further, one-third of all persons who had petitions filed in their name told FAEG they did not sign such a petition, and 57 percent of the petitions contained the names of fictitious persons or forged signatures of actual voters.

Although Circuit Court Judge Nikki Ann Clark refused to act on the lawsuit before the 2004 election, and then ruled after the election that the matter was "cured" by virtue of the approval of Amendment 4, Florida's First District Court of Appeal ruled 2-1 and later the full panel voted 9-3 to send the case back to Clark, ordering that if she finds "significant fraud" the amendment must be invalidated. The gambling titans responded by asking the Florida Supreme Court to step in and answer the constitutional questions—whether the signatures can be challenged after they're certified by the secretary of state and voting has begun, and whether the amendment can be invalidated after the vote.

It's incredible that Gov. Crist, unlike his predecessor, is working feverishly to get a compact with the Indian casinos so the state can get a share of the loot, even though it's unclear whether federal law dictates that the Seminoles should get the slots since voters approved Amendment 4, as they argue, and even though there is serious question about the legitimacy of that vote in the first place. Such is the nature of addiction—the addict cares only about that which feeds his addiction. In this case, Gov. Crist sees potentially hundreds of millions of new tax dollars.

Gov. Crist and the other gambling revenue addicts in Tallahassee ought to take the advice of their own Florida Department of Law Enforcement—"casino gambling is a very bad bet for Florida's future"—found in the report, "Casino Gambling: Is it a Good Bet for Florida's Future?"

The study notes, “Because it would substantially change the nature and image of Florida, this decision [to legalize casino gambling] could have long-term affect on the economic and social well-being of Floridians. This study finds that, although there is generally an absence of empirical data regarding the impact large-scale gambling operations would have on Florida, there is sufficient evidence that casinos would cause more crime, worsen the problem of gambling addiction, and hurt (not help) Florida’s economy.” (The study is available on the Witness Web site, www.FloridaBaptistWitness.com.)

It is a perverted, truly evil notion that our state should depend on its revenues by counting on its citizens as gambling losers. There's already too much gambling in this state; we certainly don't need our government to become even more addicted to the further abuse of its own citizens to pay Florida's bills. Florida Baptists should tell Gov. Crist and the other politicians in Tallahassee its time to kick their gambling revenue addiction.