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by WILL FOLKS
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It makes perfect sense that leaders of South Carolina’s social conservative movement want to keep hiding the ball related to their opposition to “gambling.”
These definitional hypocrites – whom FITSNews has repeatedly exposed – are already beating their breasts against this purported “vice” as the 2026 session of the S.C. General Assembly gavels to order in the Palmetto State capital this week.
Those who have followed this issue closely know these modern day Pharisees don’t really have anything against gambling, though. What they truly object to is losing control of gambling proceeds.
That’s right…
This isn’t a moral objection – it’s racket protection.
As our media outlet has meticulously documented, leaders of the Palmetto Family Council – the group spearheading legislative opposition to several proposed gaming bills – have long-benefited from millions of dollars in appropriations generated by the S.C. Education Lottery, the Palmetto State’s current government-run gambling monopoly.
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Even worse, their Holier-than-Thou sycophants in the S.C. General Assembly – the same ones voting to block private sector gaming – have habitually advanced state budgets containing billions of dollars in direct appropriations from government-sanctioned games of chance.
Do as they say, not as they do… right?
In fact, the leader of the Palmetto Family Council – Steve Pettit – presided for years over an institution of higher learning which received $11 million in lottery revenues over a four-year period, per the S.C. Commission on Higher Education (SCCHE).
“We know from God’s Word that virtue never rises from vice,” Pettit has repeatedly said in opposing private sector gaming.
Unless government is cutting the Bible Thumpers in on the racket, that is…
As these temple moneychangers continue raging indignant in defense of the take they are raking in, though, the “false witness” they bear is becoming clearer..
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RELATED | S.C. CONSERVATIVES STILL SHILLING FOR GOVERNMENT GAMING
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On November 18, 2025, Palmetto Family Council published a lengthy treatise in opposition to casino gaming entitled ‘Mirage of Prosperity.’ This treatise concluded that states committed to “sustainable prosperity” must reject casino gaming because “its financial and social burdens fall disproportionately on taxpayers.”
The problem with this conclusion? The treatise appears to have been based in large part on fake artificial intelligence (AI) research – or “AI hallucinations.” AI hallucinations refer to large language models (LLMs) – including chatbots – which perceive nonexistent patterns and generate nonsensical or inaccurate outputs based on those patterns.
The ‘Mirage’ article cited eight independent sources, several of which do not appear to exist. Additionally, the handful of legitimate sources appear to have been misconstrued – perhaps deliberately – to parrot false conclusions about the economic impact of gaming.
One academic who reviewed the Palmetto Family document said it “was almost certainly created by AI” and contained multiple citations that were “fake.” In fact, five of the eight sources contained in the document “do not exist as cited.”
A subsequent FITSNews review of the document determined it was more than 20% AI-generated – and contained five sources that could not be verified independently.
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Of particular interest given the context of this debate was one allegedly “fake” study advanced by Palmetto Family attempting to frame casinos as being far more dangerous than lottery gaming based on a supposed “gambling problem score” identified and calculated by researchers.
The problem? This score does not exist – and the research containing it appears to have been, at best, an AI hallucination.
Nonetheless, Palmetto Family cited this apparent fake score by way of insisting that “casinos amplify both personal and community risks beyond those associated with a state lottery.”
Palmetto Family actually went further than that. The organization definitively asserted this conclusion based on the so-called “gambling problem score.”
While Palmetto Family has consistently opposed lotteries, casinos, and other forms of predatory gambling, there is no question that casinos amplify both personal and community risks beyond those associated with a state lottery.
“No question,” eh?
(And about that “consistent opposition” to the lottery…)
“It is concerning that such AI arguments are being used to influence policy,” the academic noted.
Indeed it is. Palmetto Family’s document – disseminated to multiple state lawmakers as part of the organization’s ongoing effort to preserve government’s gambling monopoly – doesn’t just take liberties with the truth, it appears to be an attempt to manufacture the truth.
Lawmakers should take heed…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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5 comments
Same group that was led by Dave Wilson, until the truth came out thanks to FITSNews. The entire lot, past and present, are hypocrites.
Will, I know that you fashion yourself a “libertarian”, and that your article is towing the line of the libertarian mindset when it comes to gambling. I do not disagree that the lottery is a “type” of gambling. However, simply take a look at Atlantic City for a case study in the style of gambling that you argue for in your article. Crime, drugs, prostitution, and organized crime go hand-in-hand with Atlantic City-styled gambling. Vegas is no different. South Carolina does not need the type of organized gambling for which you advocate. We have no shortage of drug and crime problems already. Let that garbage rot in Vegas, Atlantic City, and wherever else it currently exists.
Will Folk….still advocating for gambling, legal drugs and hookers. Oh what a distorted libertarian mind.
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