Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

BREAKING NEWS: State Senate to propose three casinos, no slot parlors

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State Senate joins the gambling fray with a proposal for three destination casinos, no slot parlors.  Sound familiar?

Of course, the Senate proposal is on a collision course with the House & Speaker Deleo’s proposal and, like the Budget for courts and indigent defense, will be thrashed out behind closed doors by a “Conference Committee” – and what emerges may have NO resemblence to the legislation passed in either the House or the Senate.

Prediction:  Lobbyists will spend millions.  No cost benefit analysis will be done.  The legislation will not be “costed out” by anyone.  Falling for “the easy way out” pitch that gambling will somehow “create” revenue and help balance the budget is easiest behind closed doors while Beacon Hill is awash in lobbying money, wishful thinking, and lobbyists of the very well heeled variety.

Request:  Pay attention.  Don’t let this issue fade into the shadows.  Remember Greektown Casino’s bankruptcy?  Remember the failure of Atlantic Casinos to bring prosperity to Atlantic City

Walk the desolate surroundings of any casino … see the closed variety stores, the shuttered small hotels and motels, the closed restaurants once owned by independent local folks, and try and tell THOSE people about jobs and economic stimulous from the sink holes where the deluded drop their dough into the pockets of Malaysian Billionaires.

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  1. “Speaker DeLeo remains committed to the gaming and jobs legislation passed overwhelmingly by the House in April. This legislation, which would create two resort casinos and allow for slots at racing facilities, will foster economic development, help keep our citizens employed and provide an immediate source of local aid.”

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    p>Pass the popcorn.

  2. OK, so I tried once to question BMG’s early endorsement of Deval “TexAmeriCola” Patrick… but I didn’t get an answer.

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    p>I do plan to follow the advice dispensed there and write up a positive piece making the case for supporting — once again —  Green-Rainbow Party candidate Jill Stein over our status-quo protecting Governor (not to mention the status-quo-worsening Cahill and Baker).

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    p>And I’ve posted some great video of GRP candidate for State Auditor, Nat Fortune, directly challenging Patrick and demonstrating pretty clearly why the GRP’s ideas are worth paying attention to, worth including in the debates, worth considering for a vote on November 2nd, etc. If you haven’t watched the short clip… you should.

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    p>But this casino issue is just one more mind-boggling example of why it’s a horrible idea to give Patrick your support at such an early stage of the campaign. There is one candidate who is asking the tough questions, and taking the unpopular-in-the-polls but clearly-the-better-choice-for-the-Commonwealth position on casinos. There is only one candidate taking the long view, and truly weighing the potential for revenue against the incredible potential for disastrous impacts.

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    p>Supporting Jill Stein is akin to speaking up loudly for sane and compassionate policy that will stand the test of time. Considering her at this point in the game is a clear message to Patrick that he needs to do better by the people of the Commonwealth (an overwhelming majority of the electorate feels this way, according to the latest Suffolk poll). But endorsing Patrick is like saying — just as in 2006 — we admire you and we’ll work for you… no matter what policy promises you make or progressive or unprogressive positions you take.

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    p>And that’s where you give up your voice, BMG. I wish I understood why… is it to demonstrate a fake air of enthusiasm? Like the kind that went up around supporting Coakley? eeeeehhhh…. I just got shivers!

    • when you lead with something like Deval “TexAmeriCola” Patrick, many of us simply stop reading?

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      p>Being anti-social and goading does not win you converts, only derision.

    • If you want to gripe about BMG endorsements, write your own post and start your own conversation, don’t try and hijack the discussion about the selling of this state’s future to the gaming industry.

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      p>What I am asking is to have intense attention paid to the work of the Conference Committee that is now mandated on the gaming legislation, not to let it fade into the shadows.

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      p>Your gripes are off issue, off target, and an attempt to hijack this discussion.  Please don’t.

      • The bill is set for a public hearing Tuesday. Some details of the legislation – such as the rate at which the casinos would be taxed and the programs that would be paid for with casino revenue – have yet to be worked out, Rosenberg said.

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        p>There is no conference committee… the Senate hasn’t passed anything yet, and we should be making it clear to them that it’s not in their interests, or the interests of the Commonwealth, to do so.

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        p>How do we get hundreds of people out for this public hearing?!

      • http://www.telegram.com/articl…

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        p>From Worcester T&G in March:

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        p>

        The tally: Last year, casino lobbyists contributed about $8,000 to House Speaker Robert DeLeo, $8,100 to Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, $7,800 to Senate President Therese Murray and $4,900 to Gov. Deval Patrick. The surge in lobbying comes as the push for casinos, slot machines or a combination of both nears a critical stage. House Speaker Robert DeLeo told reporters last week he plans to file a casino bill sometime in the next two to three weeks.

        The history: In 2006, 19 firms and groups were registered with the state as having hired lobbyists to represent them on casinos and gaming issues.

        The present: In 2009, that number had nearly doubled to 34. They include out-of-state firms such as the Las Vegas Sands Corp., which spent $112,500 on lobbyists in Massachusetts last year, and Harrah’s Operating Co. Inc., which spent $60,000. Last year, casino lobbyists contributed about $8,000 to House Speaker Robert DeLeo, $8,100 to Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, $7,800 to Senate President Therese Murray and $4,900 to Gov. Deval Patrick.

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        p>Is anyone paying attention to these numbers for 2010? I’m sure they’re going through the roof!

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        p>I won’t go into any more rants about the Democratic Party or its leadership here… I’ll just point people to Shirley Kressel’s post and my post on Sean Curran, the lobbyist Super Fundraiser for Deval… kind of reminds me of Bush’s “Rangers”.  

        • Governor Patrick has been pushing for casinos* for quite a long time.  These recent dollars haven’t likely changed his mind much.

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          p> * of some flavor or other, details details.

        • meeting last week.

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          p>One Republican candidate for State Rep. spoke against expanded gambling. It’s not economic development or job creation.  

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          p>I spoke with a Republican candidate for State Senator and engaged him in conversation about his opposition to expanded gambling.

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          p>The unions pay members to attend hearings, hold placards. The unions bus them to hearings and meetings.

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          p>When Middleboro was being pursued for a Tribal Casino (that can’t happen now), the 6:00 News showed out of town union members holding signs at the Rotary. They were paid to be there.

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          p>Out of town union members were paid to collect signatures in front of the post office and at supermarkets.

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          p>How do I know they were paid out of town union members?

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          p>I asked them.

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          p>Their presence creates the illusion of wide spread support where it might not exist.

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          p>Union members have confided that they were told they would never work for the union again if they opposed the casino.

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          p>I attended one meeting at which union members members filled the auditorium and they arrived in numerous chartered buses wearing identical tshirts and carrying identical signs.

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          p>I can’t tell you what happened at the meeting because I was too busy speaking with the media. I was one of only two at that meeting opposing the casino and carrying signs  indicating our opposition.

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          p>The unions’ activities helped to tear the town apart and prevented a public discussion that was sorely needed.

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          p>That doesn’t mean union members are not asking questions and conducting their own research. That doesn’t mean they support the casino legislation.

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          p>What happens in the privacy of the voting booth is another matter.  

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          p>When there’s a political price to be had for Casino support, you’ll see the politicians change their stance.

          <

          p>

  3. After I read this article, I purchased Bryant Simon’s book “Boardwalk of Dreams” – worth reading.

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    p>

    Eight years later, the view hasn’t really changed.

    “It’s pretty much what you could have predicted,” said Bryant Simon, director of the American Studies Program in the Department of History at Temple University, and an expert on casinos and urban renewal. “Since the 1970s, we’ve always wanted our urban renewal to be quick fixes.”

    Simon said that has led state and local governments to push for the construction of all types of mega-projects like theme parks, aquariums, sports stadiums and, of course, casinos. But Simon, who has written a book on the economic development experiences of Atlantic City, said there are no silver bullets when it comes to revitalizing a blighted city.

    “(Niagara Falls) could have looked at Atlantic City, they could have looked at Detroit,” Simon said. “(Casinos) basically destroyed local business in Atlantic City.”

    But Simon, the casino expert, warns that waiting for casino-spurred development may only lead to disappointment.

    “It doesn’t lead to reinvestment. It’s a bad model for redevelopment, but (cities and states) just keep repeating it,” Simon said. “Who benefits from casinos? The casinos.”

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    p>

    Eight years after Resorts opened, television reporter Bill Moyers brought a camera crew to Atlantic City….

    Crime, Moyers discovered, had risen 80 percent since Resorts opened. A third of the city’s homes had been destroyed, but the casino gold rush had made land so expensive that most buildings couldn’t be replaced. One specualtion story astonished him. In 1985, the city needed a new high school, but it couldn’t afford a building big enough in town, so local leaders filled in marshland a few miles from the Boardwalk and put a new school there. Land prices weren’t the only striking statistics. More than 200 restaurants, Moyers learned, had gone out of business since 1978. Before the casinos, the kitchen at Curt Kugel’s Luigi’s restaurant had cranked out as many as 1,000 dinners a night when the Miss America Pageant or the AFL-CIO convention came to town. After Resorts opened, Kugel’s revenues fell by half. By the time Moyers spoke with him in 1986, his restaurant had been turned into a parking lot.

    Taken from: Bill Moyers, “Big Gamble in Atlantic City,” CBS New Special Report, July 28, 1986, Heston Room, ACFPL.

    “Boardwalk of Dreams, Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban American,” by Bryant Simon, pages 194-195.

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    p>(http://middlebororemembers.blogspot.com/2010/05/from-niagara-when-seneca-niagara-casino.html)

  4. it would be hoped that legislators would conduct their own research instead of listening to the industry and lobbyists.

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    p>

    Compulsive gamblers commonly use credit cards to gamble, and a 1997 study found that Atlantic County, the only county in New Jersey where casino gambling is legal, had a personal bankruptcy rate 71 percent higher than the rest of the state.

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    p>”Bad Bet, The Inside Story of the Glamour, Glitz and Danger of America’s Gambling Industry,” Timothy O’Brien, page 90  

  5. Ignoring the social implications for the moment, I think both the House and Senate are missing the point of a “Destination” casino when they propose to build one in metro Boston (e.g. Suffolk Downs). If you want the casino to be the destination you can’t put it in a region that is already heavily populated and is already a destination for business and pleasure travel. You end up sucking business away from the current occupants because there is only so much the region can handle and that people want it to handle. Does anyone really want to fight metro Boston traffic to get to a casino?

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    p>I know it is overly simplistic, but I would contend that Las Vagas and Foxwoods are successful because that they were built in the middle of nowhere. A far western Mass. casino would suck some business away, but it would be over a larger area and a good chunk of it would be from out of state providing a net gain in money spent in Mass.

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    p>Also the social issues would be less if you position the casino away from current population centers. The likelihood of someone fighting with their spouse and blowing their paycheck at the casino would be less if they have to drive a couple of hours to do it.

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    p>I would also contend that slots at the tracks or slot parlors would do nothing to bring in new revenue. It would take money away from the lottery and local business while creating a mire of social problems.

    • already congested area that is a TOURIST DESTINATION. Isn’t this one of the reasons we need an Independent Cost Benefit Analysis?

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      p>You are correct in acknowledging that your comments are overly simplistic because the only ones succeeding in Las Vegas are the owners and investors.

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      p>Las Vegas has the nation’s highest dropout rate, poor performing schools, high crime, high poverty, a high suicide rate due to gambling addiction, and Nevada has among the nation’s lowest college graduation rate.

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      p>http://middlebororemembers.blo…

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      p>What I have observed is that, when people consider the issue of casino gambling and slot parlors, they allow themselves to be blinded by the extravagence and flashing lights and monuments to the ego, and fail to consider the facts and statistics.

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      p>Atlantic City’s poverty rate is higher now than pre-casino and their unemployment was never reduced (prior to this casino gambling downturn).

      <

      p>Foxwoods?? Since you mentioned it, how are you measuring  
      “success” ?

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      p>Spectrum Gaming, the casino industry mouthpiece that prepared the report for Governor Patrick that you paid $189,000 for, also prepared a report for the Connecticut Department of Special Revenue that’s available here along with other reports:
      http://uss-mass.org/resources….

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      p>It’s worth reading, but the most striking is —

      <

      p>Consider their performance in Connecticut –
      plentiful low wage jobs!

      <

      p>Page 14

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      p>Substandard housing, illegal conversions — casino workers

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      p>With many casino workers unable to afford housing
      in southeastern Connecticut, some landlords have converted single-family homes into boarding facilities. The practice is not only illegal, it is unsafe as well.  

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      p>http://middlebororemembers.blo…

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      p>Both Connecticut Slot Parlors recruited overseas so the public schools are absorbing the costs of educating non-English speaking students – not the casinos. No wonder they’re so profitable!  If you don’t pay taxes like every other corporation, it certainly increases your profitability.

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      p>You also need to define social implications.

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      p>Do you consider social implications to be increased crime, increased regulation, investigation, enforcement, prosecution, increased personal bankruptcies?

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      p>  

  6. they were suddenly the focus of another Casino Feeding Frenzy.

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    p>Ill-equipped with the information and facts, they opined here:

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    p>http://www.heraldnews.com/opin…

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    p>When I posted my comments, they were removed.

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    p>I don’t generally save my comments, but for some reasons, saved these and simply re-posted.

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    p>At one point, the Gremlin even blocked my login.

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    p>This has remained —

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    p>

    What I find curious is that the Fall River Herald News Gremlin seems to delete my comments that don’t violate their rules or policy.
    My comments merely point out factual information that prove Glorified Slot Parlors by the euphemistic labels the Industry employs, such as “Destination Resort Casinos” are not what Casino Cheerleaders claim.
    Slot machines are not economic engines or job creators. They mere;y [sic] enrich the already wealthy.
    Slot gambling is extremely profitable which is why they can afford to employ lobbyists and monopolize the discussion.
    There is no indication that Fall River has employed a Gaming Attorney familiar with the Industry to negotiate this agreement. The terms of the Agreement have not been released.
    The Fall River Herald News is failing its readers and its responsibility to provide insight into the issues surrounding the proposal.  
    Slot parlors increase crime within a 50 mile radius.
    An examination of Atlantic City indicates that poverty is higher now than pre-casinos.
    Simply because “Everyone Else Is Doing It” is no reason the Commonwealth has to copy their mistakes.

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    p>Few are familiar with the Fall River Herald News, but their 5 minutes of fame is almost gone.

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    p>Their tactics are comparable to the Middleboro process in which the local weekly newspaper lost emailed ‘letters to the editor’ written by opponents, but magically received letters from proponents.

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    p>The Brockton Enterprise followed a similar editorial policy and opposition was silenced.

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    p>The Middleboro Board of Selectmen should bronze the gavel used to silence opponents because of its historical significance in the rise of tyranny.  

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    p>If you had such a wonderful product that promised Fools Gold would fall from the heavens to solve your fiscal problems, why would you silence the opposition unless you had something to hide?  

  7. They all have one thing in common – individuals or organizations get special favors from the government and take advantage of the local community and businesses.

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    p>The Kelo decision just typifies this. When the local city took houses from a neighborhood for a corporate development. The development never happened, but the home owners got thrown out anyway.

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    p>The tear down of the West End in Boston is before my time, but imagine how vibrant Boston would be with this neighborhood. Instead we have now have the brutalist style Boston City Hall.

    <

    p>

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