Govern Patrick’s class-III casinos are sometimes pitched as a greenhouse–redirecting into Massachusetts a flow of gambling dollars that is otherwise spent in Connecticut. Horrors!
But casinos are a pipeline, not a greenhouse, designed to hose up every possible dollar and whisk them into the pockets of distant shareholders, local hopes and hype notwithstanding. All the Governor’s plan does is to move the business end closer.
Nothing new here, but sometimes an analogy is useful.
For instance, gambling proponents often cite the Mass. lottery as a justification for casinos. However, if gambling is your cup of tea, the lottery is at least a greenhouse–100% of the proceeds stay and are spent in state, where they fund public works, public services, and other programs.
What kind of economic development do we deserve?
Seems that “vacuum cleaner” might be a more appropriate analogy than “pipeline.” Casinos will suck money our of people’s pockets and all we get is a dirty bag in the end while the owners of the house get clean shiny cash.
I can count the number of times I’ve been in one on one hand; and always related to some conference I was attending. Frankly, I find them boring. I know some people who’ve gone to concerts at Foxwoods, but a casino – by itself – I don’t find entertaining.
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p>But, I was, at first, neutral about the casino idea. Mostly, though, because I wanted to see the Gov win one over the Speaker. A few new jobs would be nice, and something to take the sting out of the annual tax bill.
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p>But, the more I thought about this, the more disappointed and angry I got. The gambling industry is not a nice bunch, certainly not the people I want to see playing a major role in our economy. I love the analogy above; they will suck the money out, and leave the problems on our doorstep.
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p>The Gov. failed us on this, and we failed him. The grassroots effort we all put together was about positive change, positive economic growth, building something better. Gambling is not a positive anything. We promised to work with him, continue the positive energy of the campaign, and hold him accountable.
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p>It is time to hold him accountable, and for all of us to bury this casino issue and move on to more positive, sustainable, greenhouse economic growth.
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p>Put a fork in it. It’s done. Let’s move on.
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The state should encourage development of green technology and reduce use of dirty power (coal), but how is that related to gambling? It will be interesting to see how the Speaker will propose closing a massive budget gap that may develop as the economy softens.