Blue Mass Group

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Casino Boycott Petition Circulating

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Gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein has thrown her weight behind the boycott and pledge.  Here’s her take on why people need to speak up:

Dear Friend,

As we enter political fund-raising season, Speaker DeLeo and Governor Patrick are pushing hard to bring government sponsored predatory gambling into Massachusetts. If they succeed, it will be a BIG WIN for casino lobbyists and a BIG LOSS for the people of our Commonwealth.

Disturbingly, Speaker DeLeo has declared there will be no public hearings on his bill – shielding this latest boondoggle from desperately needed public scrutiny and debate.

They claim casinos will create jobs. But the facts show that casinos are jobs killers and community-busters. We need a secure green economy, not more of the failed predatory casino economy of the past.

Tell Beacon Hill not to betray OUR JOBS, OUR TAX DOLLARS, COMMUNITIES, & ENVIRONMENT!

   * We want good wage green jobs for the long haul – for construction workers, small businesses, clean manufacturing and healthy local food production. Green jobs lower energy and food costs for families and businesses. They will clean up the air, improve nutrition, reduce chronic disease, health costs, and the threat of climate change.

   * We don’t need here-today-gone-tomorrow construction jobs that leave us with permanent casino blight: failed small businesses, gambling addiction, bankruptcies, broken families, crime, sprawl, pollution, and climate change. Casinos kill 1.5 jobs for every 1 job they create. Coping with the problems caused by casino gambling costs taxpayers at least $3 dollars for every $1 dollar in tax revenue!

Don’t let them put small businesses out of business! Become part of the growing movement for revitalized communities, secure jobs and the healthy green future we deserve! Sign the pledge at

http://gopetition.com/online/3…

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Comments

  1. Wow. People who are against gaming are going to boycott the casino? Well, hot damn, they might as well just not even bother building them now, ‘cuz those tables and slot rooms are going to be empty!

    • To the Massachusetts Legislature and Governor Patrick:

      In signing the pledge below I am asking you to reject attempts to establish a government-endorsed program of predatory gambling in Massachusetts. The predatory gambling industry is harmful to local businesses, undermines sound job growth, and fosters addiction, bankruptcy, crime, divorce and other social problems. Building casinos locks us in to high greenhouse gas emissions and make our economy vulnerable to oil price shock. In the final analysis, these problems will consume more tax dollars than we can recover from gambling taxes.

      For my own part, I pledge not to patronize gambling casinos or slot parlors in Massachusetts. I pledge to strongly encourage my children and family members to avoid such establishments. Instead, I pledge to direct my discretionary expenditures into locally-owned, productive businesses that are good neighbors in the community, that do not exploit people with addictions, workers, or the environment, and which are the best way of creating permanent jobs in a sustainable economy.

      Signed,

      <

      p>I think the point of the petition is to show that there are alternatives, instead of just saying No! No! No! It’s saying there’s a better way, and the least we can do is vote with our dollars.

      <

      p>The petition page also has a link to this Casino Fact Sheet:
      https://docs.google.com/filevi…

      <

      p>Beyond this petition, it seems like a critical moment for us to assert our right to be heard on the issue. What DeLeo and Patrick are trying to do with this bill represent the absolute worst of Massachusetts politics — and the type of BS that drove MA to elect Scott Brown. This reeks like Beacon Hill under Tom Finneran’s control. If they ram this through without a public hearing it’ll be the last shingle falling off the facade of democracy. Let’s pay close to attention to who’s giving money to DeLeo et al at these fundraisers.

      <

      p>Unfortunately, as in the MA health reform bill:

      <

      p>

      The public won’t see totals of who is giving how much to which lawmakers until well after the debates on the casino bill and the state budget will likely have concluded.

      <

      p>Well isn’t that conveeeeenient?

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