The roll call vote on casinos and predatory gambling expansion

I congratulate Represenative Walz for (My opponent in the Eighth Suffolk) for her consistent opposition to the Casino/Racino proposal. In addition to all the other problems associated with expanded gambling, casinos would potentially devastate the restaurant and hotel business in our district as well as the Hynes Convention Center.

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p>I believe this debate, which took up four weeks of valuable time along with the recent Education Reform bill and accepting national education standards (I’m sorry, Common Core Curriculum) are emblematic of much deeper problems. I would also argue that they are almost entirely of the legislature’s own making.

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p>I doubt that either the casino debate with its supposed
hundreds of millions in revenues or school reform with its potential $250 million Race for the Cash would ever have gotten this far had the legislature not spent us into the poor house.

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p>For those still clinging to the notion that our budget problems are the result of a “revenue crisis”, I would remind them that if every one of the roughly 320,000 unemployed in Massachusetts had a median wage $55,000 job tomorrow it would not generate in income and sales taxes combined to cover the $2-$3 billion deficit projected for FY2012.

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p>And for those that would argue that the budget has increased more slowly in recent years, I would point out that is only because so many big ticket items such as the School Building Authority and virtually all transportation spending has been moved off budget.

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p>If everything that was on budget in FY2000 was still on budget today, the current budget would approach $33 Billion instead of “only” $27.6 billion.

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p>I am not blaming Governor Patrick. He has had no greater luck in having any of his spending vetoes sustained by the legislature than any of his predecessors.  

but I don’t think casinos are a good business to be in nowadays.

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p>I was meeting some people from CT last Thursday evening – we decided Mohegan Sun casino might be a god “half-way” point.  Compared to what I’ve seen the last time I was there a few years ago, the place was deserted.  2/3 of the table games were unoccupied.  The slots were even worse – it looked like no more than 20% of the machines were being played, if that.

It’s good to know both of my elected officials on Beacon Hill got this right!

We cannot cut taxes in good years, and cut services in bad years indefinitely.  Like Joseph’s advice to Pharoah, at least as reported, you save up in the good years to take care of citizens in the bad years.

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p>Keep 6 bushels of grain and give the Pharoah 1.  Sounds like a good idea: a flat tax and a reasonable rate.  

for voting NO on the final conference committee (debacle)  bill.  

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p>You are an intelligent woman, excellent legislator and caring person.   Very glad to see you depart from the pressure of leadership and do the right thing.

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p>These proposals are horrible for the future of our youth.

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p>These proposals are scams that shift wealth from the lower/middle to the owning class.

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p>These proposals lead to increased school dropout rates which are the primary indicators of reduced lifetime earnings and increased chronic health problems.

Your singular focus on the Raynham dog track, to the exclusion of the concerns of your thousands of other constituents, many of whom faced a sovereign tribal casino down the road or in their backyard, meant so much…truly…

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p>By the way, Dean Flynn, I’m still waiting for an answer to my question as to why you voted against an amendment that would stop casinos from marketing to people on self-exclusion lists.