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It appears that Virginia is becoming a gambling crazy state. Not too many years ago we didn’t even have a lottery. Once we started, we began to have so many ways to “invest” our money; $1 scratch tickets have exploded to $50-plus tickets.
Now we’re opening casinos in Portsmouth, Norfolk and who knows how many other cities.
I must admit that I play the lottery, occasionally, although not too successfully.
With all of the forms of gambling we are taking billions of dollars out of our economy, that could be going to more useful items, such as food, housing and retirement.
I’m not saying do away with the lottery, but let’s go back to a much smaller offering. We can still have a little hope without losing the farm.
Dick Jones, Virginia Beach
Re “A helping hand” (Our Views, Nov. 28): I was pleased to see the editorial encouraging readers to make room in their holiday budgets for contributions to local nonprofits. I was surprised, however, that the editorial did not mention Giving Tuesday.
Created to counterbalance the commercial frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday invites all of us to restore philanthropy to the forefront of what we often call the “Season of Giving.”
Hampton Roads is a uniquely generous community for its size and demographics. All around us, hundreds of nonprofits — many operating on very lean budgets — are feeding hungry families, protecting our environment, supporting neighbors in crisis and enriching our region’s cultural life — thanks to the support of donors and volunteers.
Although this year’s official Giving Tuesday falls on Dec. 2, my hope is that those who are able will embrace its spirit by supporting the organizations they care about — through financial contributions, volunteering their time and practicing acts of kindness not just today, but throughout the season and all year long.
Virginia Thumm, Virginia Fundraising Consultants, Norfolk
I am no fan of tolls or their regular increases. Like most Virginians, all I can do is deal with it.
However, several days ago, I had the occasion to call Virginia EZ-Pass to straighten out a minor hiccup with my account.
I spoke with a customer service representative named Amy and must say that she was a helpful, pleasant and delightful person to deal with, going above and beyond to deliver great customer service.
EZ-Pass Virginia should be proud of Amy’s commitment to her job.
Jimmy Frost, Virginia Beach
The liberals who write in are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. This latest shutdown was 100% a Democratic shutdown.
Republicans in the House passed a continuing resolution. One Senate Democrat joined with Republicans to vote for the continuing resolution. Unfortunately for the American people enough Democrats voted no so the continuing resolution failed. This is the same continuing resolution the Democrats voted for more than a dozen times when former President Joe Biden was in office. Why? Because the temporary COVID-19 health care premium subsidies are expiring at the end of 2025.
The Democrats voted for these subsidies to expire when they started. The need for the subsidies is in large part due to the “Unaffordable” Care Act aka Obamacare. I believe the goal of Obamacare was to destroy private insurance and force everyone into government-run health care exchanges. Health care premiums have not been reduced; they have more than doubled in many cases. Instead of working on real solutions to solve health care costs, Democrats want to punish the American people with high health care premiums in the hopes of getting votes.
I hope the voters remember when they go to the polls in 2026 it was the Democrats who shut down the government.
Webb Lancaster, Virginia Beach
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