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

“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.

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!

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

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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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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)

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

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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  

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.

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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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?  

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.

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