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How about Whorehouses for Charity?

Maryland Lottery Director Buddy Roogow, right, testifies as to the steep decline in lottery income where illegal slots are present in St. Mary's County. Behind him are left to right, lobbyist Bruce Bereano, slot machine kings Steve and Frank Moran, Billy Hill of St. Mary's Landing Restaurant in Charlotte Hall, which is packing in players. ST. MARY'S TODAY photo

Would Little Flower parents like to see cheaper tuition from proceeds of a brothel?

Why not drug dealing?

Editorial Opinion:
No one can have any fun in Maryland, now that the cops have busted a brothel in an apartment house in Laurel, this madam should have taken a page from the slot machine guys and donated 15 percent of the take to Little Flower School, the Leonardtown Lions Club and to the Mechanicsville Vol. Rescue Squad and then when she is hauled into court for prostitution, all of the members of the charities would line up to sing her praises, just like they did in Annapolis on Wednesday for the corner casino crowd....if the parents of the children at Little Flower School want to send their kids to that school why won't they pay enough tuition to pay the cost of the education, don't they believe in the value of a good Catholic education?
The bars who are using the school and other non-profits as fronts for their slot machine parlors are taking advantage of the horrible and pathetic woes of those who go into these slot machine joints and lose their social security checks, their house payments and their rent...all so the kids of cheapskate parents can get cheaper tuition for their kids at a private school. This is called blood money.
Shame on the parents from Little Flower School who want to gain advantage from the slot machine losses of the less fortunate and exactly what is wrong with the Catholic Church for being a part of this nonsense?
Little Flower School has a fine tradition of providing a structured and safe environment for students that is lacking in public schools, but the tuition is too low to afford to pay competitive salaries to teachers and therefore less qualified educators are on the staff and sooner or later, parents figure this out and remove their children from the school.
Some educators such as Lila Hofmeister, principal of St. Michaels School, have gone to work at Catholic schools at a big pay cut because they put their money where their mouths are, unlike those who just want cheap tuition.
Families who shell out big bucks on large homes, SUV's and fancy vacations could lower their standard of living and spend more on tuition instead of profiting from the gambling addicted poor of St. Mary's County.
If we didn't have hundreds of illegal slot machines, many of these gambling addicted would be pouring their money into the lottery, is an argument made, but there are many of us who didn't vote in favor of instituting the lottery.
What in the world has happened to all the fine people involved in these fraternal, charitable and civic organizations to allow themselves to become so blinded to the damage done to society by the proliferation of illegal slot machines, without controls or accountability, to become fronts for such destructive forces.
Our fire departments are supported by tax dollars and donations, but running the carnival in Leonardtown became too much work for the young guys, but nothing slows down the appetite for any of the fire departments to all the latest toys, bells, whistles and ladder trucks for departments that don't need them.
Their bravery and unselfish dedication to others should not be used as a smokescreen, but it is, as the politicians are gutless wonders and are afraid to put the brakes on the fire departments.
Go ahead, bring on the slot machine parlors on every corner, add brothels and strip bars and soon the Golden Goose Pax River missions will be transferred one by one, to Edwards Air Force Base.
Of course, some of these Little Flower parents will be uprooted with their jobs and have to go to China Lake at Edwards and then perhaps they will find a reason to try to run the local Catholic school there on slot machine dollars. Are these people even embarrassed? Just a little?
The Catholic Church has meant an awful lot to many people, but this is a real stretch to play around and say that these slot machines are "Bingo". They are not bingo, they are slots and the whole deal is a scam.
READER FEEDBACK:
Your views are welcome, but be careful, these folks think they are sacred cows, use your own name at your own risk as retaliation will be fast and furious. Send your views to staff1@stmarystoday.com
Question for our Readers:
Should charities provide themselves as fronts for illegal slot machine parlors?

READER FEEDBACK: I take great offense to the article “Would Little Flower parents like to see cheaper tuition from proceeds of a brothel?”
My son is due to graduate from the 8^th grade this year and has been attending Little Flower School since kindergarten. I have nothing but admiration and great respect for the parents and teachers affiliated with Little Flower School. They are a remarkable group of individuals and certainly an asset to the school. The families’ of Little Flower School contribute hundreds of hours of community service to the school and church each year. Did it ever cross your feeble mind that the almighty monetary value of a paycheck isn’t everything? Did you ever once think they are teachers at a private Catholic school because they love to teach? Did you think that perhaps some of the teachers may also have their children enrolled at Little Flower School? Every single parent and teacher should be outraged by your article.

I assure you; I am not a “cheapskate”. I have been paying tuition for approximately 9 years and not once did I receive any direct assistance. Our way of controlling the increasing cost of tuition is to perform community service hours and volunteer our efforts to assist at the Crystal Room and ADF bingos. Even with those efforts, tuition at Little Flower School continues to rise every year on an average of 8 to 10 percent. Tuition escalated as high as 16 percent one year to increase our teachers’ salaries which were well deserved. I do not question that. If anything, I tip my hat to the teachers of Little Flower School and think they deserve more. I am not aware of any disgruntled parents pertaining to that decision. After all, we do have the option to enroll our children in the public school system for FREE. We contribute to the public schools through our taxes and do not reap any benefits. This is a personal choice and no one is complaining; let’s not even open that can of worms. If Little Flower School is harvesting gratuities from The Brass Rail, it’s not being applied directly to my tuition. I would venture to say if the school is collecting charitable contributions it is being spent to offset the increasing heating and electric bills and maintaining repairs and upgrades. Parents that enroll their children at Little Flower School are the backbones that continue to keep the school operational. We are grateful for any charitable contributions to assist in maintaining our facility. Providing a safe environment and atmosphere for our children is our top priority and we do pay for this comfort.

I certainly have no objections to those that like to gamble. Life is a gamble, but we do create our own destiny. It’s called prioritization! If some buffoon wants to spend their entire wages on gambling, who am I to dispute that? They are reckless and foolish. I have absolutely no idea how much revenue Little Flower School has received in charitable contributions from The Brass Rail. I have confidence in Father Joe’s authority to dispense of proceeds accordingly for what is best for our school and community. If charitable contributions are pouring into Little Flower School, explain to me why tuition continues to increase every year mainly at parents’ expense? Think about that. And you have the audacity to refer to us as “cheapskates.” Not likely; not ever. The parents of Little Flower School are very giving of their time, efforts and their paychecks. To know them is truly to admire them.

Obviously, all revenue can not be traced for tax purposes to the state of Maryland. Maryland wants its slice of pie. That’s it in a nut shell.

The establishments that appear to be in the spot light and headline news more often are The Brass Rail and Boatman’s. I have read Boatman’s contributes to St. Michael’s School of which I am an alumnus 1974. Boatman’s also supports St. Mary’s College and St. Joseph’s Recreation Center to mention a few. So what if these establishments are making a profit and sharing a little of the wealth! I think they should be commended for their charitable contributions they’re making to our community. Shouldn’t we be thanking them instead of chastising them? I’m certainly not covetous over their good fortune and neither should you. Be thankful and consider their contributions a blessing as they are giving back to our community. Would you consider these establishments that are charitable to our community “cheapskates” also? What’s wrong? Isn’t anyone contributing to your cause? Or did you just decide to be totally spiteful and single out Little Flower School?

This depicts my opinion only. I am not a lawyer and do not possess the knowledge of legalities pertaining to the slot machines circumstance/situation and percentages of revenue to charity. I’m sure it will be resolved in a timely fashion if there is conflict. I am also confident the facilities sporting slot machines will abide by Maryland state law.

My only disappointed is that I became aware of this situation through rumor and decided to investigate. I truly feel the parents should have been informed and that would have prepared us for these types of sordid articles. But, on the other hand, I doubt very seriously many of us support your distasteful newspaper. I will defend my church, school, teachers and parents any day to the likes of such twaddle.
Sandra E. (Stone) Schlosser
(Editor's Note: It is clear from your letter that you see nothing wrong from profiting from the losses of those who are gambling addicted, which studies on the subject show represent 50 % of the players; therefore one can conclude that you would take blood money from whorehouses as well, which was the question asked in our editorial. Thank you for your answer on behalf of the Little Flower parents. As the Catholic Church has long taken the money of the gangsters involved with organized crime, our local link between the church and those who are on the fringe of gambling, corruption and sleaze should not be a surprise. How has Little Flower School existed for so many decades without the sudden infusion of gambling cash from a hell-hole bar at which drug dealing in the parking lot and murder and drug dealers shooting at cops are routine? What is amazing is that the Little Flower School parents would so breezily accept blood money from a hell-hole and then gloss it all over. Boatmans has been very cheap in it's donations and uses the charities only as a front for profiting from illegal slot machines. Wake up, these operators have been raking in millions and using good people as a front. Would you put a poster on the front of the whorehouse saying that a portion of the profits go to Little Flower School?)

READER FEEDBACK:
Take the money for our firehouses so everyone benefits not just a few.
Carolyn

READER FEEDBACK: I think that if people want to play slots/pull tabs, let them play - regardless of what you call them! If people want to throw their hard earned money away, they will find a way! Whether it be in St. Mary's County, Atlantic City, or the race track! Why shouldn't there be a benefactor to collect the unwanted money that they people are throwing away! We certainly don't close down the local bars just incase an alcoholic might want a drink. I also don't feel that the parents of Little Flower should feel ashamed of taking the money as a donation to the school. Most of the parents (I for one) that have put their children through private education have done without, to give their children the benefit of a private religious education. The old wives tale of "only the rich attend private school" is so far off the chart! Parents do without boats, vacations and fancy new cars, not to mention they have put several children through these schools, not just one! These parents have elected to pay for their child's education, they do not benefit from the taxes that they pay, except for bus service. They pay for books, uniforms (in counties other than St. Mary's) busing to the school of choice. The public education system is available to them, but don't look down on these parents for wanting more for their children than they public system has to offer, and their sacrifice to make that happen. I'm sure if it was a donation to one of the local high school booster clubs - we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Local organizations including the private schools should be able to accept any donation - no matter who the donor might be!

Gail

READER FEEDBACK:
The slots are just a by-product of the bigger problem which this county, state, and country faces. The issue isn't gaming devices, slot machines, or whatever else you want to have, it's the law (or lack of) concerning charities. I say many of our charities need to be reigned in. I boldly say that even more of them need to be totally eliminated. This is just another example of government and society getting taking advantage of when they attempt to allow private enterprise to do something good.

Look around you. Captain Jack has the Bay Labs Foundation, one of our big local builders has the Mid-Atlantic Housing Fund, and on the national level there's no shortage of charity fodder as well.

If it's so easy and completely legal to create a charity, collect money, give yourself a job, and pay yourself a salary (you decide how big), or not pay yourself a salary but use the charity to enhance your business, then why not do it? After all, there is no shortage of notable causes to claim your fame (and fortune). Take your pick: save the bay, disabled veterans, hurricane Katrina victims, the homeless, and of course the children of Little Flower and the other Catholic Schools. You don't expect these kids to go to Spring Ridge or Great Mills High School with the rest of our kids do you?

Let's face it, these charity czars are much smarter than average working folks. The first time I stepped into the bingo/pull tab/these aren't slot machines room of the Rod & Reel I was completely amazed that nobody on our side of the bridge had caught on about how to succeed in business by playing the nonprofit game.

They say that one of the hardest parts of starting a business (this is a nonprofit charity business - remember that - never deviate when questioned) is coming up with the business plan, so I've created this one for you. This way you can get in on the "gaming device" action too - before it's too late. My plan is offered to you for free. You're on your own if you use it though. I take no responsibility.

1. Hire a lawyer to create a nonprofit charity business that enjoys tax exempt status.
2. Give yourself (and your relatives) a job at your charity.
3. Lease your existing real estate, business and personal property to the charity.
4. Fill the place with leased bingo/pull tab/ these aren't slot machines.
5. Call the Emptyprize for a fluffy interview and press release about your good deeds. Don't worry, they won't ask incriminating questions or want to see the books.
6. Donate some token proceeds to the religious folks and their schools.
7. Put some oars in the water at the local college.
8. KEEP socking the money away into the charity coffers.

Step eight is very important, because eventually the state is going to get wise that you've shut down the lottery and caused a lot of harm in your community. At that point, they'll shut your good deed machines down. But by socking away the dough from the start, you'll be prepared for this inevitable ending. So even though you'll no longer have a money making product to support your charity, you'll still be able to continue paying yourself a handsome salary for being the director; that is until the money runs out. But that could take years if you play cards right, or maybe even decades if you invest wisely. Sadly, you might have to cut all but the closest family members loose from their employment roles, but somebody's gonna have to run to that charity, aren't they?

There you have it, a free business plan to put you and yours on the road to riches.

Of course, you're probably wondering why I haven't enacted this business plan myself, or why I'm not charging you to prepare it. The answer is I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Deep down inside something didn't feel right about running such a (fake) business, because while helping others is a great thing, helping myself under the pretense of helping others is rather reprehensible in my book.

Now somebody might read this and say all of this stuff shouldn't be happening anyway under the existing laws concerning charities. If that's the case, that means we have an enforcement problem. Imagine that.

PS: Can you guys running these bingo/pull tab/ these aren't slot machine charities start picking up the tab for the public school buses to these private schools as well? And can we start getting some free drinks (yeah alcohol) while we're playing? How about some gaming subsidized buffet meals? Oh, and don't forget the skimpy outfits for the female wait staff. Bunny tails are always nice when the wife isn't watching me watch them! Thanks in advance.
Anonymous

READER FEEDBACK: Your suggestion that whorehouses could benefit local charities appears to have merit. However, I'm somewhat confused. Do charities benefit by receiving a percentage of the take (like slot machine proprietors) or, could there be "freebies" extended to senior citizens who are romantically challenged?
Jim

READER FEEDBACK: Being that we're not gambling by playing these machines and that they are being ran by charities, is the money that you put into the machines tax deductible?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but generally if you make a donation to a charity you can take the tax write-off. Same goes for dropping money into the church collection plate.
Can we start asking the Brass Rail and the others for a receipt? You can't keep the pull tabs as a receipt, because half the time the machine never gives you any.
Reader Feedback
Your question in regards to "Would Little Flower parents like to see cheaper tuition from proceeds of a brothel?" Depends on how you define brothel. Also, I'm sure the state would step in once they found out they were not able to collect full taxes because it has no way to prove how much money comes into the the establishment.
Based on the below quotes out of your paper and other papers, one has to speculate that the core issue is not charitable organizations directly benefiting and the LFS parents being cheap but the state not getting their fair share as per the following comments:
Of the nearly 50 machines in the Brass Rail, about half of them had players on this Monday night while no one was playing a Maryland Lottery machine near the front of the bar, which the State Lottery Director told ST. MARY'S TODAY last week is posing a big problem for the state.
"With no government control to track the system, the state cannot collect full taxes because it has no way to prove how much money comes into the machines," said Sen. Thomas "Mac" Middleton (D-Charles), the bill's lead sponsor.
According to the MD Lottery website http://www.mdlottery.com/
Fiscal Year 2007 sales were $1.577 Billion.
Richard Dover
Reader Feedback

Once again, St. Mary's Today talking out both sides of their mouth. In one article you write how Lila Hofmeister didn't sell her soul to the devil and in another article you quote the bar owner as saying, "I have given thousands of dollars to different Catholic schools and one of them being St. Michael's."

The only reason this is an issue is because the state is not getting their cut of the profits. How about all of the thousands of public school parents who have taken money from the "whorehouse" state, with the profits from the Maryland State Lottery going to fund our schools and senior citizens. My understand is that if a business sells a lottery ticket or a scratch off, that business profits from the winnings. What is the difference between Maryland Lottery and the "illegal" pull/slot machines? Is it because our government says so. One more question that comes to mind, if they are "illegal" than why would there be a vote to get rid of them? If they are "illegal" than the police should come in and tell the bar owners to remove them. Obviously, not that "illegal" if the state can wait until July 1 to vote on this issue.
Richard Dover
(Editor's Note: The reader mistakes telling both sides of the illegal slot machine story with taking both sides of an issue. First, we do present both sides of an issue and second, we tell our readers what we think about these issues and we don't make any bones about what we feel is best for the community, which is likely the reason you are mad. Both tasks are important for a publication and our readers can make up their own minds and vote, which will be on Nov. 4, not July 1. If you go back and read the bill, the law will take effect on July 1 if first passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor. The General Assembly needs to pass this bill and outlaw these illegal slot machines once and for all. The last thing this state needs is for casino bar owners, slot machine suppliers and hack politicians making law from the back of a slot machine delivery truck. The way our laws are made in Annapolis is bad enough without a bunch of backroom wheelers and dealers dealing themselves in for millions and using naive charities as a front for their corruption and dark deeds.)