Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

House passes DeLeo’s gambling/$lot$ bill 120-37 [updated with roll call]

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  2. What’s the point in having progressives in power if they’re going to cave when the Speaker says boo?

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    p>What about other progressives in leadership? How did Rep. Rushing vote? What about the rank-and-file who didn’t have precious offices to keep?

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    p>I’ll be very interested to see a roll call, and I’m particularly curious about the 74 who changed their vote since last time.

    • Rushing, Malia, Balser, Smizik, Wolf… these are chairs. These are people in leadership. These are Reps who voted their conscience. Come on, Rep. Story. I hope she gets a lot of nasty calls from constituents about this.

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      p>Interesting to see the breakdown. Some obvious no votes from Rogers backers, but otherwise there’s no clear line. Some freshmen yes, some no. Some progressives yes, some no. Some old-timers yes, a few no.

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      p>Well, my respect to those who did what they thought was right. Now on to the Senate…

  3. I see the scratch ticket junkies every day. This will make it worse.

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    p>I’ve lived near “Indian” casinos in Washington State and Minnesota. My old hometown, Detroit, is a pantheon to what casinos will NOT do. There are few sights more pathetic or expensive on “the system” than problem gamblers and we just doubled or tripled our state’s lot.

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    p>And there will be no economic activity around the racinos and resorts. Aside from the local gas station, all the money goes into the casino. If there is going to be any development or such, it will only succeed where the audience is captive.

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    p>Congrats to all 120 of you spineless cowards. DeLeo proved that he has a bigger pecker than you. You should be so proud of your submission.

  4. can defend a vote that will be a long term regressive tax, increase addiction and bankruptcy, and funnel massachusetts dollars to out-of-state casino owners.

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    p>But I think the “story” here (get it?! Ellen “Story” et al) is that progressive reps can’t and won’t be able to actually defend the substance of the vote. All they can defend is wanting to be in a position of power with the Speaker.

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    p>There is a case to be made for retaining power for future battles, but no rep should sacrifice their own best judgment on what is best for the district and the state to do it.

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    p>I am grateful for the few progressives who didn’t bend to the will of one guy (who, it bears repeating, has two racetracks in his district destined for huge upgrades) to vote against the interests of their own districts and against the long term economic health of our state.

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    p>Votes like this one make a strong case for primary challenges. Either that or they make ordinary people cynical about the political process. I’m sure reps voting for this in progressive districts are hoping for the latter.

  5. Cowards..all of them.

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    p>

    Most legislators in DeLeo’s leadership team who had previously opposed expanded gambling switched their votes to support the measure, including Rep. David Linsky (D-Natick).

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    p>What else can DeLeo make these idiots do?

  6. Thank you, Tom, for your NO vote on this ghastly legislation.  As someone with an MBA and an in-depth knowledge of economics, you know that the promises of the casino lobbyists can never be fulfilled, and that the idea of the state deriving revenue from the losses of those who can least afford it is unconscionable.

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    p>And this makes me even more pleased that Smulowitz defeated Harkins yesterday.  Shame on her for her YES vote.

  7. And the other 36 reps who did what was right for the long term good of the Commonwealth, against amazing pressure.  

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    p>A hard thump on the head to those reps who spoke about jobs jobs jobs without ever acknowledging that these weren’t living wage jobs.  As someone who has personally had to work a lot of these type of jobs (often simultaneously) before finding employment at decent Massachusetts company that paid an actual living wage – this was a particular point of  outrage.

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    p>I’d like to shine a special spotlight of shame on Rep. Strauss, who I’ve personally met with about this issue and who, in late 2008 was part of the anti-casino of a panel at a debate in New Bedford.  

  10. Once again, we see the power that MA House Speakers wield — it was like this under Finneran and now it’s DeLeo who’s leading the reps around by the nose.  Can someone point out any group that’s working on a referendum to break the power of the Speaker’s office?

  11. I’m overjoyed to see that my new Rep, Denise Provost, joined Frank Smizik in voting against this travesty.

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    p>Thank you, Denise — thank you, Frank.

      • I’ve been waiting for inspiration about a new name before asking the editors if I can change. I’m thinking about posting a diary with a poll of likely names — that should be good for lots of fun đŸ™‚

      1.  Look at who voted “Y”.
        2.  Find candidates in “Y” districts who would have voted “no”.
        3.  Filter out those who are weak, have ugly baggage, or are otherwise rather long shots.
        4.  Filter out the “R” candidates too, for good measure.

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      p>Who’s left?  That’s who you get behind.  There’s no reason to specifically go after “spineless” progressives in particular.  Support good candidates who can win in “Y” districts.  Simple as that.

  14. I can’t say I’ve ever been a fan of my representative, Angelo Scaccia, but credit where credit is due–he voted no! Representative Scaccia, nice work.

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    p>TedF

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