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9/27/2004: Gambling in Nebraska
When his kids were little Warren Buffett bought a slot machine, installed it at home and allowed his three children to feed their allowance, dime by dime, into it. It was one of the best $25,000 investments he made, Buffett said during a half-hour conversation about gambling that aired Saturday night on KPTM in Omaha and KOLN/KGIN in Lincoln.
Buffett, an investment billionaire who still lives part-time in Omaha, said he figured he could give the kids any kind of allowance he wanted, as long as it was in dimes, because
"I’d have it back by nightfall."
And what his children learned, Buffett said, is that
"you can pull the handle of the slot machine, because you pulled handles back then, and it might be good exercise, but it is bad economics."
In the long run, he said, "the machine always wins." Buffett acknowledged that he wagers occasionally.
"I have bet on my golf game, and it cost me money over the years."
But he opposes proposals on the November ballot that would allow casino and slot machine gambling in Nebraska for two reasons. He believes it’s bad economics and bad public policy. The videotaped conversation between Buffett and Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Gambling, will be used by groups across the state that oppose all the gambling proposals on the November ballot, according to Pat Loontjer, executive director for Gambling with the Good Life.
Buffett and Nancy Osborne, wife of Rep. Tom Osborne, also will be featured in television advertising opposing the ballot measures, she said. "Gambling is not economic development but a transfer of money," Buffett said in the interview. The money, he said, goes three places: taxes to the state, operating expenses and profits to the owners. Buffett also talked about addiction, which he believes is a byproduct of expanded gambling.
"I don’t think the state should get in the business of spreading an addiction."
Buffett gets about a dozen letters a day from people looking for financial help. The letters fall into three groups: people with serious health problems, people who have gotten into trouble with credit cards and people addicted to gambling who have lost "thousands and tens of thousands of dollars that their family needs." Nancy Osborne asked Buffett to do the interview, which was taped Sept. 15 in Omaha, Loontjer said. Buffett has donated $10,000 to Gambling with the Good Life for its campaign against the ballot measures.
journalstar.com. Lincoln, Nebraska
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