Our lawmakers lack moral strength

State and local governments are addicted to sin taxes.

If you smoke, drink or gamble, you must pay.

You are not morally equivalent to your lawmakers who may occasionally accept a cash-filled envelope but certainly are not often caught in the act.

They rarely smoke, drink or gamble, or if they do, it is in moderation.

But you, dear taxpayer, had best cough up or else.

Time was, in Chicago, senior citizens could be arrested for playing penny ante poker on public property in the Chicago Park District.

Thankfully, this potential crime wave was stopped in its tracks.

Then, somehow, a new era arrived. Suddenly, gambling, re-christened "gaming," became not only acceptable but necessary.

First came the lottery, closely followed by casinos.

It is now your civic duty to throw your money away. Not to worry if many families are devastated.

After all, hitting a $1,000 jackpot at a casino is a thrill, even if it cost you $5,000 in the past.

The winner of the multi-million lottery is publicized. The thousands of losers get no time on the evening TV news.

If I may, I should like to express my admiration of our lawmakers' venality and hypocrisy.

James R. Schaefer

Mount Prospect