In the summer of 2004, just as pundits were pronouncing that political conventions had become irrelevant, a young senator from Illinois was making his national debut on center stage. As he spoke, he held the nation in his hand. His words painted a future of hope, built on a foundation of integrity, and crowned with the promise of a brand new day. And at the conclusion of his speech, my children watched in wonder as their mom stood on her feet and applauded the TV set.
The man with the unlikely name became the one to watch. I found myself hoping he’d run for president one day, that he wouldn’t have skeletons in his past or make incriminating sound bytes, and that he’d really turn out to be as good as he seemed.
I’d been waiting since 2004 to vote for Barack Obama.
And then, along came Deval.
He’d also inspired. Spoke of the high road, of dreams fulfilled, and hard work toward a common goal. Then, as soon as he got elected, he turned the tables, took the low road, and placed his best laid plans at the feet of the future of casino gambling.
Our newest governor had become the poster boy for political bait and switch.
And so, while Obama opened fire hydrants of hope and the nation danced in a shower of long-awaited optimism, here in the Bay State, we just stood back rolled our eyes.
Caroline Kennedy claims to have endorsed Obama because his ability to inspire people is so much like that of her father. A few years ago, I too felt strongly that what our country needed more than anything was a real leader. A person who could elevate our nation out of this depressing quagmire of war and debt and politics as usual.
I didn’t vote for Deval. But a lot of people in this State did. They placed their faith in his promises, and in return what they got was a governor who played games. Who bent arms and tried to bribe cities and towns with one-time gifts for transportation projects, imaginary jobs, and the myth of an easy way out of a tough spot. His term so far has been one big infomercial to get you to buy something you wouldn’t otherwise have considered.
Deval Patrick’s fiscal policy? Buy a scratch ticket. You’ll get rich. Build casinos. They’ll solve all our problems. It’s entertainment!
I can’t remember the era of Camelot that Caroline’s dad once created in this country. He was shot and killed when I was still a baby. But it always sounded like a nice place to live in TV documentaries and in the movies.
And I don’t know if the Deval Effect had anything to do with Hilary Clinton winning Massachusetts in yesterday’s primary. But I do know that people all across this State are expressing their frustration with a man who used our hopes for a brand new day, to usher in a self-serving term of the same old, same old. Once bitten, twice shy was how many Bay Staters saw Obama coming into this race – thanks, in part, to Deval Patrick.
Many of us want to see, in Barack, the promise of another JFK. But it’s hard to believe in Camelot while living in Deval’s Spamalot.
And is it even possible, in this age of prying Youtube eyes and instantaneous satellite feeds to sustain a country on hope when the hiccups of reality keep intruding?
There’s so much riding on the one person who will inherit George W. Bush’s America – and none of us want to screw it up.
I still don’t know who I’ll vote for in the national election, but yesterday, I walked into the voting booth, picked up the sharpie, and colored in the circle next to the name of the candidate who’s accepted less gambling money from their supporters. And who attempted to curtail gambling in their home state rather than expand it. Barack Obama seems to understand that when you bet your future on a scratch ticket, you’ll lose.
And for me, those actions spoke louder than words.
“Deval Patrick’s fiscal policy? Buy a scratch ticket.”
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p>”Gladys”, I don’t like the casinos, but that’s a ridiculous summation of Patrick’s fiscal policy. At least he has understood the state’s precarious fiscal position from day one, and has proposed a variety of measures to deal with it: Closing corporate tax loopholes; Local options meals taxes; Hell, keeping the income tax @ 5.3% was a big deal that we don’t even talk about anymore.
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p>And now Sal and Terry Murray are scrambling to find the bucks for an over-subscribed (over-successful?) health care law. Hate to say he told you so, but he told you so. And he’s had proposals on the table to deal with at least part of the problem, since a few months into his administration.
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p>Actions speak louder than words, indeed. Patrick has acted, and it’s time for DiMasi and Murray to put up or shut up.
…there are other bullet points on the Governor’s fiscal policy wish list, but he’s depending on casinos for the windfall.
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p>If he’d been up front about how he planned on using casino revenue solve the State’s money problems during his wistful campaign, I doubt he would have been elected.
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p>Then entire quote from my blog was, “Deval Patrick’s fiscal policy? Buy a scratch ticket. You’ll get rich. Build casinos. They’ll solve all our problems. It’s entertainment!”
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p>My analogy stemmed from the fact that in my twenties I would by a lottery ticket every week believing it was a fairly decent investment. Surprise. I wasn’t. And that’s that’s how I view the governor’s casino plan, only on a much larger and potentially devasting scale.
You equated losing weekly money on scratch tickets years ago to Patrick’s casino proposal? Weak. The biggest and most obvious flaw in your statement is the difference between chance and strategy. Gov. Patrick’s proposal works with multiple oversight agencies to control revenue and to make sure it’s applied in the areas that need the most improvement. The second point I’d like to make is, oh, that’s right, you made it for me-Scratch tickets are a legal and structured form of gambling. It’s a free market economy-what gives people in this state the right to allow the lottery/scratch tickets/bingo parlors/horsetracks and not casinos?
how this works. “Gov. Patrick’s proposal works with multiple oversight agencies to control revenue and to make sure it’s applied in the areas that need the most improvement. ”
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p>Control revenue? Like Michigan? Apply revenue, net of the cost of creating revenue? Explain how this works.
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p>I want to see this. Please explain. I’ve notice that there are casino shills getting on here every few days.
First consider that tax revenues are up year-over-year since 2004; government employee headcount is up while the population is down or flat. Next consider that Mr. Patrick’s proposals are two-fold: raise taxes and build casinos, one in the same really.
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p>The analogy to ‘buy a scratch ticket’ is broader than just casinos: bring stem cell business to Mass; bring Solar panels mfg to mass; bring casinos to Mass.
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p>While we have some fuzzy and warm concepts brimming with progressive feel good goodness, what if he’s wrong with his State-Stock picks? What if Evergreen is a bust and the casinos are white elephant.
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p>BTW, I was in a NY casino last night. What a pit and empty eyesore a casino is capable of becoming.
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p>Mr. Patrick is making a business sector bet with your money, awarding corporate welfare to a company he thought was ‘good’. While it may be in his job description, it’s terrible policy. What if Solar isn’t the next big thing and Stem cells are to the 2000s what Synfuel was to 1970s. Better to make the business environment friendly and let the markets figure out what thrives, no?
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p>So what has the Governor done to generally encourage business? There’s the ‘close the loophole’ mantra, a too-clever-by-half attempt to raise large corporation tax; no mention of the highest unemployment costs in the US; support for higher minimum wage.
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p>In short, whether you believe the business environment is good or lousy, Mr. Patrick has done nothing to change it in favor of business.
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p>The only ‘put up or shut up’ he’s undertaken is an attempt to raise Government revenues to support existing and pie in sky policy.
Were you counting cards again Gary? Bringing Down The House?
I’ve visited every type of casino from NC to Washington state. My view on casinos:
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p>Small Indian casinos (NC, NY, Washington) involve lots of slots and are sad little businesses filled with low to middle income, blue-haired women who smoke. The casinos neither hurt nor help the local economy much.
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p>The big casinos, (foxwoods, mohegan) are net winners for the areas, assuming the areas are thriving to begin with. The Town, if at the table from the beginning, can really make a killing on its property tax share.
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p>If the areas aren’t thriving to begin with (Atlantic City, East St. Louis, St. Louis, New Orleans) the Riverboats or land Casinos are pretty much filled with the same elderly blue-haired women, but the bigger casinos draw a decent business to its gaming tables, restaurants and shows. But, those same casinos don’t do anything for local business.
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p>Western Indian Casinos. Sad. But then again, so is the communist reservation system. Why would the Indian casino system be any different?
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p>East St. Louis. Really, really bad. It’s casinos. Really bad. It’s porn shops. Every street corner and probably bad, but will require more research. A nuclear option is probably on some municipal planners table. (aside: I was ask to leave a casino in East st. Louis for card counting. Spooky.)
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p>My guess is that a Mass casino (big, located in middle class town) would resemble a Foxwoods, and would be invisible soon to local residents. Three government planned Mega-Devals? Risky because of size (has this Governor even heard of the free market?).
I think people would have a lot better opinion of Deval if his campaign team would come back to try to spruce up his image, but they are busy recreating his campaign for Obama now…
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p>I don’t buy into the hope crap, but I still voted Obama because I wanted the person who had the sense and judgement to be against the war, vote no on cluster bombs, and open trade with Cuba. The lining up of the more progressive wing of the party and unions behind Obama helped sway me as well to believe he is the lesser of the two evils.
that’s what governors do.
Deval’s got some work to do right here in Massachusetts. His first year in office wasn’t spectacular, and his budget needs some work.
Yet, at the same time, Deval’s only been in office for a little over a year. He should be given the chance to prove his competence.
David Axelrod, who worked on Deval Patrick’s election is from Chicago, and worked on the elections of the great Chicago Mayor Harold Washington in the 1980s, as did Obama. Axelrod and Obama and many Chicago politicos who are working on the Obama campaign first cut their political teeth during the tumultuous and inspiring Harold Washington campaigns. The Obama – Axelrod connection preceded the Patrick – Axelrod connection. And while Obama and Patrick are similar in many ways, their differences are quite marked.
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p>The late, great, beloved Harold Washington is still unique as the only Chicago Mayor who did not leave office (or die in office) a multimillionaire – the only thing of value he left when he died was books, and his spirit in those of us who remain inspired by him.
Yes, I think Deval’s performance as governor hurt Obama’s reception here in MA (although I think the main factor in the results was because Obama had pulled out of MA). Deval’s first-year performance illustrates the potential risks of a movement- rather than machine-based politics.
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p>But the risk also comes with a huge upside: the ability to make fundamental, rather than marginal, change. I also think that Obama’s rather different background than Deval’s (his community organizing experience in particular) hedges against some of the potential downside.
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p>For me, the gamble is worth it. (Yes, I am echoing Bill Clinton’s “roll the dice” ploy). But I can understand why Mass. residents are once burned, twice shy.
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p>Here’s what I’d written on my blog yesterday: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/a…