Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Patrick Campaign response to RGA / Baker Negative Ads

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Please tell your friends, neighbors and co-workers you’ve had enough of Charlie Baker, who wrote the Big Dig finance plan that Massachusetts taxpayers are still paying for, once again spreading false information about Governor Patrick’s responsible handling of the state budget under difficult circumstances.

Please help us get this news out by forwarding this email to five friends right now.

Sincerely,

Doug Rubin

Senior Strategist, Deval Patrick Campaign

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Comments

  1. Seriously. I am a wonk and even I find this boring. You need a graphic, or chart, or something that says it clearly.

    <

    p>Massachusetts Taxpayer’s Foundation, which most people have never heard of, conducted a study for the Boston Globe, and …… I am asleep.

  2. The Governor introduced casino gambling to the Commonwealth.

    <

    p>When his proposal was defeated, instead of abandoning it, it was resurrected.

    <

    p>The Governor’s predecessor had the wisdom to oppose slots and there’s a lengthy history as well.

    <

    p>This about says it all:
    United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts

    <

    p>Senator Tucker summed it up beautifully when she said (to paraphrase) “For $600 million, you get Slots in a Box.”

    <

    p>The McDonald’s of Gambling

    <

    p>

    …Parx players tend to live within 20 miles of Street Road, many go even more frequently.

    “We have customers,” Jonas boasted, “who give us $25, $30 five times a week.”

    <

    p>Casinos: Limited Tourism Benefit

    <

    p>

    Here is data from several studies disproving any claim that video slots casinos will enhance New Hampshire tourism.

    · 95 percent of patrons at the Bangor, Maine casino live within 35-50 miles. 97 percent live in Maine. (Maine Public Broadcasting Network, Interview with Mike Peters, April 13, 2007).

    · A survey of Illinois riverboat gamblers conducted in 1995 found that 85 percent lived within 50 miles of the floating casino at which they were gambling.1

    · A study by Iowa State University reported that 94 percent of gamblers at the Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino in Des Moines came from within the state; nearly two-thirds came from the county in which the racetrack is located.2

    · A survey of gamblers inside a Kansas City, Missouri, casino found that 88 percent lived within 45 minutes of the casino.3 Another survey of Kansas City casinos, which are located on or near the Missouri River across from the Kansas border, found that 94 percent of cars in the casino parking lots bore either Missouri or Kansas license plates.4

    · Eighty percent of Wisconsin casino revenues come from Wisconsin residents, according to a study released in 1995.5

    · The 1995 United States Survey of Gaming and Gambling gives further evidence that casinos are primarily a local draw. The survey found that among respondents with a casino in or near their community, 40 percent gambled in the past year, compared to only 17 percent of those who lived at least 100 miles from a casino. Further, among casino gamblers, 42 percent of those with a casino in or near their community gambled at least every three months, compared with only 17 percent of casino gamblers living 100 miles away from a casino.6

    · At the short-lived New Orleans land-based casino, local residents made up 60 percent of the clientele.7

    · According to gambling researcher William Thompson, a professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, “(Casinos) have a negative impact on the community unless 50 percent of the gamblers come from out of state.”8

    <

    p>I would call your attention to the thoughtful oped posted by former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger:
    Before we expand gambling …..What are the odds?

    <

    p>The Governor has ignored the facts.

    <

    p>Additional information may be found here:
    http://www.uss-mass.org/

  3. Doug:
    Have I ever told you about the forgotten 58? Call sometime. It’s an issue. Seems like your guy changes his mind alot. Against charters unless the funding formula is fixed as a candidate and then we get GLOUCESTER as a Governor. Ooops!

  6. Maybe that’s an understatement!

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    p>I sent the following email to the Governor:

    <

    p>Honorable Governor Patrick:

    <

    p>In an effort to close the budget deficit, Texas is again considering ‘racinos’ and the information contained in Texas Gambling Opposition offered some interesting insight.

    <

    p>Consider —

    The 270 casinos in the entire state of Nevada only generate $1 billion for the state.

    <

    p>How do we even consider the revenue projections of  Spectrum Gaming or Innovation to be reasonable?

    <

    p>

    Racino planners say 98% of the dollars wagered in slots come from within a fifty mile radius of the track.

    <

    p>Patrons are increasingly more ‘local’ (as indicated Casinos: Limited Tourism Benefit).

    <

    p>This is not an ‘economic engine’ or ‘tourist’ destination as many claim.

    <

    p>The Spectrum Report, updated for the Speaker of the House, projected revenues based on a 2 hour drive time which they know is grossly inaccurate. The Industry tracks their patrons, targets, markets and crunches those numbers. They KNOW!

    <

    p>

    Racinos would open the floodgates for Indian casinos. Federal Indian gaming laws overpower states’ limitations on slot expansion. The Houston area has an aboriginal land claim of 5M acres. If Texas has Racinos, 23 historic tribes can begin litigating for their shares. California and Oklahoma tried to control the “footprint”, but each now have more than 100 tribal casinos.

    <

    p>As you are aware, I made this argument with Senator Rosenberg. You simply CANNOT single out one Tribe for preferential treatment and expect the other Tribes not to pursue equal treatment in Federal Court.

    <

    p>It is doubtful that you can compel a Tribe to surrender their Sovereign Rights and you will lose this argument in Federal Court after a lengthy and expensive battle.
    Legalization of Slots opens the floodgates to 8 or 10 additional Tribal Casinos in the
    future.

    <

    p>Wisconsin: Gambling at tracks didn’t work included this —

    For when Wisconsin lifted its gambling prohibition, it indirectly opened the doors to Indian casinos. At about the same time the dog tracks were being built, federal Judge James Doyle ruled that because Wisconsin had a lottery and legalized betting, it also had to allow the Indian tribes to open casinos on land they owned.

    <

    p>Former Attorney Genral penned these words —
    Before we expand gambling …..What are the odds?

    <

    p>The pending legislation is grossly flawed as even a layperson such as myself can see. Slap Dash legislation, written behind closed doors with Industry assistance
    does not serve the public well.

    <

    p>I respectfully request that you re-consider your support for this legislation at this time. We simply can’t afford to make these costly mistakes.

    <

    p>Respectfully,

    <

    p>The reply:

    <

    p>So sorry not to have responded sooner.

    <

    p>I have not supported slots at the tracks or so-called “racinos.” The experience of other states, as you have cited, gives me a lot of pause about racinos.

    <

    p>Now maybe he misunderstood, but his reply forced me to consider a conversation I had with the Governor in Franklin at a Community Forum.

    <

    p>When I explained the rushed process in Middleboro and how now questions or discussion was allowed, the opposition was gavelled to silence, the Governor’s response was that much the same had happened to him by DiMasi.

    <

    p>It seems to me that this is a Governor incapable of critical thinking, surrounded by yes men, by choice, who has abandoned his progressive supporters.  

    • He posts here on BMG and takes a long walk when the troops get restless. He may have the toghest job in America.  

      • This post is about our response to the Baker / RGA attack ads.  We have gone back and forth around your issues in other posts, but what I was hoping to accomplish with this post was to get out the facts behind the false attacks, and generate some discussion around the misleading tactics of the RGA and the Baker campaign.

        • Responding..not so much. Ask Deval why the kids and taxpayers in Natick, Wellesley and Lynnfield are more important than the kids and taxpayer in Swampscott, Saugus, and Woburn.

          <

          p>Can’t wait for that answer.  

        • Because you want to talk about what you want to talk about – sorry!

          <

          p>I want to talk about what I want to talk about regarding the Governor’s introduction of Predatory Gambling that his predecessors opposed for good reason.

          <

          p>No “Progressive” candidate supports SLOT PARLORS – we’re not describing some elegant resort – we’re talking about legalizing SLOT PARLORS.

          <

          p>No one on Beacon Hill has prepared a ‘comparison.’ I know. Unlike the media, I asked for one. When it was not forthcoming, I prepared one for myself.

          <

          p>To say or believe that the most glaring difference is slots at the tracks, misses many other significant differences contained within the versions of the bills.

          <

          p>One of the most problematic issues is that the Senate version, supposedly written by casino guru Senator Rosenberg, is the regulatory framework that is ripe for corruption and has been widely criticized.

          <

          p>When asked about limiting the number of slot parlors, Senator Rosenberg passed that task along to an appointed governing board because he can’t figure out how to do it.

          <

          p>Senator Rosenberg’s poor understanding of the requirements for an adequate regulatory framework have left much to a politically appointed board that should have been included in the package.

          <

          p>Money spent locally has a ‘multiplier effect’ – you go to a local restaurant, the waitress goes to a local hairdresser, who goes to a local mechanic, you get the point. Not so with money flushed into a slot machine.

          <

          p>The costs for a new gambling regulatory commission in comparable states (there is no exact apples:apples) are between $20 million and $50 million per year. The Speaker’s Special Interest Gambling Bill provides $5 Million.

          <

          p>The costs for expansion of the AG’s department for surveillance, oversight, prosecution, equipment and personnel for an entirely new category of enterprise and organized crime statutes is – not included or considered in the bill.

          <

          p>The costs for expansion of the MA state police for a new department, equipment, personnel is -not included or considered in the bill.

          <

          p>The costs for expansion of the local/regional impacted law enforcement departments for equipment, personnel is – not included or considered in the bill.

          <

          p>The costs for district courts, DA departments, Sheriffs, Corrections – not included or considered in the bill.

          <

          p>The mitigation for directly impacted muncipalities is $15 Million in the Speaker’s Special Interest Gambling Bill. The WMCAT that has studied these proposals extensively has identified a MINIMUM of $50 million needed PER impacted casino region.

          <

          p>Doug, plain and simple, I’m a voter who is being ignored.

          <

          p>Let’s start a conversation about how these proposals benefit a select few and the taxpayers subsidize the long-term impacts and costs. Not one state with legalized slots and casinos is in better fiscal shape than the Commonwealth. But please don’t expect me to care about negative ads when the Governor continues to support this program of enrichment for the already wealthy casino investors.

          <

          p>

          • I’m thinking you may have an easier time addressing my local aid issue. You know the one about the forgotten 58. You know the one where Deval chooses Marblehead and Natick over Saugus and Wakefield. Some suburban winners and some suburban losers. Some kids gets better funding for their education based on the nonsensical formula that Rep Linsky (D-Natick) calls “deeply flawed” and Gov Deval calls “broken.”

            <

            p>By the way, slots at Wonderland and Suffolk Downs are nothing more than a no bid giveaway and a traffic headache for moi.

            • you can’t take positive facts on Patrick instead you would rather hijack a posting to draw others away from the facts provided.  People are not stupid as much as Charlie Baker hopes by the campaign that he is running.

          • Everyone on the ballot supports casinos.  Jill Stein will likely get on the ballot in August and she does not support casinos, is that the big change (with her 2% of the vote) you are referring to?

    • …is starting to get awfully tiresome.  There’s more to life (not to mention the Governor’s agenda and what he’s done for the state) than casinos!

          • I have reams of papers, research, reports and statistics that I haven’t posted in this forum that more than adequately explain why the introduction of Predatory Gambling is a major mistake.

            <

            p>Although, I must admit, watching the Vultures circling should give you pause.

            <

            p>How many communities?

            <

            p>Middleboro
            New Bedford (with 2 suitors)
            Fall River (with 2 suitors)
            Palmer
            Marlboro
            Milford
            Charlton
            Raynham
            Plainville
            Suffolk Downs (1 or 2?)
            Seaport
            The Aquinnah?
            The Pocasset?

            <

            p>The list of lobbyists is below. Have they all stepped forward?

            <

            p>Aquinnah Wampanoag Gaming Corporation
            Boyd Gaming Corporation
            Crossroads Mass LLC
            Delaware North Companies, Inc.
            Development Associates, LLC
            Diamond Game Enterprises, Inc
            Gaming Laboratories International, LLC
            GSN Digital
            GTECH Corporation
            Hall Properties, Inc.
            Harrah’s Operating Company, Inc.
            Hotel, Restaruant, Institutional Employees & Bartenders Union, Local 26
            International Game Technology
            Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc.
            Las Vegas Sands Corporation
            Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
            Massasoit Greyhound Association, Inc.
            New England Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Assoc. Inc.
            Northeast Gaming Group, Inc.
            Penn National Gaming, Inc.
            Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe
            Poker Players Alliance
            Protection of Working Animals and Handlers Inc.
            R. Steven McCarthy
            Scientific Games International, Inc.
            Standardbred Owners of Mass., Inc.
            Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, LLC
            Stop Predatory Gambling
            The Mohegan Tribe
            Trilliant Management, II, LP
            Westwood Group & Subsidiaries, The
            WMS Gaming Inc.

            <

            p>The Commonwealth has no legal mechanism to limit casino/slot parlor licenses.  

  7. All you read are those who want to continue to attack and not offer solutions.  Facts are on Patrick’s side.  What you are seeing here is what Baker and the RGA want to do, keep voters eye off of the facts, don’t offer solutions and just attack.  Great post.

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