Selective Gambling Morality In Massachusetts

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Published: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 https://www.gowanbo.cc

Ban online gambling, but expand state lotto sales and launch land casinos

Network World took a swipe at the selective and hypocritical morality of Massachusetts politicians this week with an op-ed article reporting on the intended expansion of state lottery outlets to the doughnut-and-coffee shop sector.

"You can't play online poker, but go ahead and gamble in Dunkin' Donuts," reads the headline on the piece, which summarises Governor Deval Patrick's attempts to introduce three land casino operations to the state whilst banning any possibility of competition from online gambling. Meanwhile, state lottery officials are looking for bigger and better ways to increase lottery sales.

The Herald story reports that although the plan is in its preliminary stages, state lottery officials have confirmed they have already spoken to Dunkin’ Donuts and are drawing closer to a deal with CVS, which has begun selling scratch tickets in California.

“These are very successful businesses and we would like to partner with them,” said Dan Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the state lottery. “The more agents we have, the more (tickets) we can sell.”

Network World points out that while this is going on, Governor Patrick is "....rattling cell keys at the online poker crowd and....the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission – our officially blessed, multibillion gambling behemoth – is taking yet additional steps to ensure that residents here cannot step outside of their homes without tripping over a game of chance. Not content with the current status of a lottery outlet in every greasy spoon, watering hole, liquor store and Seven-11, the state’s gung-ho gambling purveyors are now targeting donut shops, drug stores and home-improvement centers such as Home Depot."

The article is not against gambling per se, but the hypocrisy is noted: "The state bullying poker players on one hand while squeezing every last dollar out of the proletariat with the other cheeses me off. And, having to drive to Connecticut to play poker on Friday instead of staying nearby – or here at my PC – really cheeses me off," the article ends.

"Would you like a lottery ticket with that latte?"

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Massachusetts Casino Program Re-Energised

Wednesday, January 16, 2008 mgowanbo.cc

Governor Deval Patrick hits the ground running as 2008 opens

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is re-energising his controversial campaign to obtain legislative support for three land casinos for the state. Online gamblers are perturbed by a buried clause in the proposed legislation that seeks to ban online gambling in what is seen as a protectionist measure for the proposed new land gambling venues.

This week Governor Patrick was ramping up efforts to pass his casino gambling bill, appealing to labour unions, mayors and other would-be beneficiaries to pressure state lawmakers, and hoping election year politics will help the cause, reports the Boston Globe.

The Democratic governor held strategy sessions with his top advisers in the first days of the New Year, leading to the planning of several events around the state.

"Everyone is energized," said Rep. Brian Wallace, a Boston Democrat who is a key Patrick ally on casinos. "Before, it was on the backburner." The discussion among union and land gambling industry representatives is whether to create a formal coalition that would pay for television and radio advertisements, he revealed.

Patrick's proposal, which he claims will raise $400 million a year in additional tax revenues, has evoked strong debate in the state legislature and the media. House lawmakers two years ago rejected a bill to expand legalised gambling, and many representatives remain opposed to casinos, saying the move will alter the cultural and intellectual character of Massachusetts.

Labor unions have been among the strongest supporters of the bill because Patrick estimates that three casinos have the potential to create 30 000 temporary construction jobs and 20 000 permanent jobs. Tens of thousands of union workers across the state can be mobilised to lobby lawmakers, who ignore constituents at their peril in an election year, the newspaper speculates.

Governor Patrick plans to begin meeting with individual House members in a strategy similar to the campaign that took place last year when he and others took a personal interest in preserving gay marriage. Another part of the strategy, lawmakers said, is to persuade mayors and other local elected leaders to pressure undecided legislators.

Among the industry heavyweights showing an interest in building a casino in Massachusetts are Sheldon Adelson of Las Vegas Sands Corp., Gary Loveman of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts Ltd., and Atlantic City mogul Donald Trump. All four of the racetracks in Massachusetts also want to bid.

Patrick's bill calls for a minimum investment of $1 billion, and would site a casino in each of three regions: the Boston area, southeastern Massachusetts, and western/central Massachusetts.

The governor says Massachusetts residents spend about $900 million annually at neighbouring Connecticut's two casinos. His bill calls for net revenue to be split between fixing roads and bridges and property tax credits for homeowners.

Another argument in favour of casinos is that the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe will soon be able to open a gambling facility. The tribe has applied for federal approval to use land in Middleborough for a casino. Under that scenario, the state could be shut out of any revenues.

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Heat's On Massachusetts Gambling Proposal

2008年2月13日周三 mgowanbo.cc

Anti-casino activist joins the fight over casino legislation

Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick has his hands full with his proposal to bring on three resort-casinos in the state in the face of determined opposition. Over the past week the governor has been faced with challenges to his earnings predictions for the casinos, an Indian tribe casino proposal and the appointment of a top anti-casino activist by an anti-casino pressure group.

The fight in Massachusetts is of interest to online gamblers as well as land casino opponents and supporters, because buried in Governor Patrick's proposal is a clause that seeks to make online gambling in the state a felony, with penalties for players as draconian as those introduced in Washington State.

There's a strange dichotomy in this issue which has been attributed to an attempt to protect the governor's proposed casinos by excluding online gambling and Indian land casinos from the state.

Governor Patrick claims that accepting his proposal for three resort-casinos will bring in $2 billion in state tax revenues annually and create 20 000 permanent jobs and thousands of temporary construction jobs.

Eyeing the promise of such labour largesse, labour unions are supporting the governor and applying increased pressure on the state Legislature. Robert Haynes, president of the 400 000 member Massachusetts AFL-CIO, announced this week that the labour organisation will be lobbying lawmakers to support the Patrick proposal.

Gambling opponents led by Economic Development Committee Chairman Rep. Daniel Bosley have fought the prospect of casinos being introduced to the state, and are preparing figures that challenge the governor's revenue estimates.  Patrick faced criticism from the Legislature last month when he included potential revenue from casino licensing fees in his budget to help close the state's $1.3 billion deficit, with critics pointing out that even assuming the casinos were approved, it would take 18 months to 2 years before any significant revenues would be seen.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Council of Churches, the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and the Massachusetts League of Women Voters have joined with other gambling opponents to form a pressure group called Casino Free Mass., opposing the governor.

Dennis Bailey, a leading strategist in anti-casino lobbying and campaigning across the United States, has been engaged by this pressure group to help defeat Patrick's bill. Bailey is widely credited with defeating legislation proposing casinos in Maine and believes that the close race in Massachusetts will swing to reject the Patrick proposal if the voting public can be properly engaged and fully informed.

He faces a formidable pro-casino machine in the political power of the governor and the weight of the unions.

Governor Patrick is also fighting off an application by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s that more than 500 acres of land in Middleborough be rolled into a trust for the purpose of operating a tribal casino. This week the Patrick Administration submitted a 125 page response to the federal government opposing the application, in stark contrast to his avid support for his own casino concept.

"The process that the tribe is involved in does not take into account the interest of the whole of the commonwealth. Our proposal does," Patrick said at the time. "The question is whether this is going to be done to us, or whether we are going to influence and shape casinos, whether they are Indian casinos or not, in ways that respond to all of our best interests."

Apparently growing impatient with the opposition to his own 3 casino proposal, Governor Patrick has tried to set a timeframe for resolution of the issue.

"It's very hard for us to engage with individual [Legislature] members and encourage them to come and support this in the absence of a deadline, so we want a deadline. Let's move on it," Patrick said. The governor said he wasn't worried that pressuring legislators, many of whom have resisted his proposal, would backfire.

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO unions president backed him, saying he had spoken with House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, a casino opponent who controls the House agenda, and that DiMasi had "recognized that we have to press our case."

However, DiMasi continues to oppose the proposal, saying through a spokesman: "The speaker continues to have serious concerns about creating the casino culture in the Commonwealth. We understand they want jobs for their members, but the question is what kind of job. We think higher paying, stable jobs like life sciences will bring in, and not jobs at a blackjack table or spinning the roulette wheel."

The draconian online gambling provisions of Governor Patrick's proposal have been all but submerged in this fierce debate over the land casino issue, but Massachusetts online gamblers will be less than enthusiastic about state legislation that directly seeks to prohibit the pursuit of a private pastime using their own money in their own homes, enforcing it with jail penalties more appropriate for serious and violent crime.