Tag: Middleborough

Legislator says casino bill is dead

Tim Faulkner of GateHouse News Service has an interview with state Rep. David Flynn, D-Bridgewater, who says Gov. Deval Patrick’s three-casino proposal won’t even come up for a vote. Faulkner writes:

“The casino bill isn’t going anywhere,” Flynn said. “I find very little support for it from members of the house.”…

The casino bill, he said, will receive an “adverse ruling,” thus blocking a vote on the bill….

Flynn said Rep. Daniel Bosley, D-North Adams, head of the Economic Development Committee “will issue an adverse report, preventing the house from voting on the casino bill.”

Flynn has been pushing a “racino” bill, which would allow 2,500 slot machines at the state’s four racetracks. He claims Bosley will allow a vote on that bill. I hope it’s defeated.

On the larger issue, though, this is very good news indeed. Bosley and House Speaker Sal DiMasi have been signaling for months that, at some point, they would act to kill Patrick’s proposal. If Flynn’s information is solid, then it looks like that time has arrived.

Milk money

Paul McMorrow has a highly entertaining roundup of this week’s casino news at Boston Magazine’s blog. I especially like a description of the brochure Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration distributed to legislators:

Loaded with incongruous clip art, impressive leaps of logic, half-truths and downright sloppy research, the brochure (PDF) is one of the most dubious — not to mention unintentionally hilarious — public documents to see the light of day in quite some time. Print this thing out, take it on your lunch break, and try to read it without having milk squirt out your nose. We dare you.

I’m fascinated by the administration’s retreat from promising 30,000 jobs to “tens of thousands.” Is 20,000 “tens of thousands”? I suppose. But when I hear a phrase like that, I think of, oh, 50,000, or 70,000. “Tens of thousands” is not only deliberately vague; it’s deceptive.

Casino supporters support casinos

The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce study on casino gambling (PDF) generally supports the numbers put forth by Gov. Deval Patrick in his three-casino proposal, according to the Herald and the Globe. Patrick’s numbers are largely based on studies by UMass Dartmouth economist Clyde Barrow. And, yes, the Chamber of Commerce study relies in part on Barrow’s research.

I have not read the Chamber study, and probably won’t. My opposition to casino gambling is not based on whether it will or won’t bring more revenue to the state. Still, you can see from following the Barrow connection that the Chamber study can be easily dismissed by casino foes.

Believe it or not, the Chamber study also incorporates some numbers provided by Harrah’s, a casino operator that would like to do business here. Some independent study.

Last September, the Weekly Dig detailed the eerie parallels between Barrow’s work and Patrick’s proposal. In the current CommonWealth magazine, Phil Primack has more on the Barrow-Patrick connection.

In the Cape Cod Times, Stephanie Vosk reports that state Rep. Dan Bosley, D-North Adams, a leading casino opponent, is circulating a position paper disputing another claim made in the Chamber study — that the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe may move ahead with its plans to build the world’s largest casino in Middleborough with or without state approval.

In fact, as casino opponents have pointed out repeatedly, the tribe may not operate a gambling casino if casino gambling is illegal in Massachusetts. Yes, it could open the world’s largest bingo hall. But with federal regulators preparing to crack down on video bingo, that’s really not much of a threat.

As the Phoenix’s David Bernstein writes of the Chamber report, “on balance it should boost the pro-casino side, while not dampening the enthusiasm of the antis.”

How to save $50 million a year

Gov. Deval Patrick plans to spend $50 million a year to treat the gambling addicts he would create if his proposal to build three casinos comes to pass. And his defenders want you to know that’s a good thing. The Herald’s Scott Van Voorhis writes:

Casino supporters say Gov. Deval Patrick’s big commitment to dealing with problem gambling should offset any concerns about “social costs” raised by foes of expanded gambling. The money would come from a 2.5 percent tax on projected daily casino revenues in Massachusetts.

You know, I just figured out how the state can save $50 million a year.

Patrick’s casino obsession

Someday we may learn why Gov. Deval Patrick has been so willing to risk his entire governorship to fight for a proposal that will lead to increased crime, increased gambling addiction, and rises in the divorce and suicide rates — social ills all well documented by Casinofacts.org.

I don’t think it’s because his wife’s law firm stands to benefit, although that is a pretty blatant conflict of interest. He must know by now that he was sold a bill of goods in terms of the number of construction jobs and the extent of the revenues that would come in. My best guess is that, deep down, he knows he made a terrible mistake, but he can’t publicly admit he’s wrong.

House Speaker Sal DiMasi, a casino opponent who’s been reasonably diplomatic about the governor’s three-casino fiasco, signals that he may finally be ready to bring down the hammer, mocking Patrick’s ludicrous claim that the casinos will create 30,000 construction jobs (Globe story here; Herald story here).

Meanwhile, consider this post at Blue Mass Group by Lynne, who blogs at Left in Lowell and who is the sort of idealistic progressive activist who propelled Patrick to his rousing victory in 2006. Lynne’s anger and disappointment are palpable, as she accuses Patrick of “lying” to advance his agenda. Specifically, she cites his factually incorrect claim that if the state fails to get out in front on the casino issue, Native American tribes will be able to move ahead anyway, with no state regulation or benefits.

As Lynne rightly points out, federal law only allows tribal facilities that are in compliance with state law. If the state does not legalize casino gambling, then the most the Native Americans can do is open a glorified bingo parlor. Lynne writes:

I know that being disappointed in your leaders is par for the course in politics. I just thought this time might be a little different. Patrick has decided to hang his hat on bringing casinos to Massachusetts, ignoring large swaths of objective information, and using fear and lies to accomplish it. But it’s this last part that I may not be able to forgive.

Why is Gov. Patrick doing this? His proposal is guaranteed to end badly: He’ll lose or, much worse, he’ll win. Is there no one who can talk sense to him?

Timing is everything

Among the blogging community, it’s no secret that the law firm of Ropes & Gray, which employs Gov. Deval Patrick’s wife, Diane Patrick, is a major force on the casino-gambling front. Peter Kenney, who blogs for Cape Cod Today, nibbled at it last September. Ryan Adams — who, as you’ll see, thinks highly enough of Patrick to post a picture of himself with the governor — took a bigger bite in December, writing of the Diane Patrick connection:

While I hate to be cynical, I don’t know if there’s another explanation that exists that can so easily describe why the Governor is pulling out all the stops on this issue, one that’s quickly turning his entire base against him.

But if anyone in the mainstream media has taken note of this conflict of interest, I’m not aware of it. Until today, that is. Boston Globe columnist Steve Bailey, a staunch casino opponent, has weighed in with a piece that lovingly details Ropes & Gray’s deep involvement in the gambling industry, including its defense of casinos that have been sued by “allegedly compulsive gamblers.”

The firm has an entire Web page devoted to its “gaming” practice (“gaming,” as I’ve pointed out before, is cleaned-up PR-speak for “gambling”). Among the so-called accomplishments it claims are helping Native American tribes deal with debt issues and — get this — “Defending a gaming company before the Federal Election Commission against charges of improper campaign donations.”

The firm assures Bailey that Diane Patrick is not involved in Ropes & Gray’s gambling operations, and, further, that Ropes & Gray claims no involvement in Gov. Patrick’s push for three casinos. No doubt that’s accurate, but it’s also irrelevant. If casino gambling comes to Massachusetts, lucrative business for Ropes & Gray awaits. And what’s good for Ropes & Gray is good for the Patricks.

How do you like the prospect of our governor’s creating the very “alleged” gambling addicts who’ll be suing companies represented by his wife’s law firm?

Needless to say, this is grotesque. It seems weird to suggest that Gov. Patrick should recuse himself from having any involvement in his own gambling proposal. But he’s the one who put himself in this position, not us.

With the gambling issue heating up, and with House Speaker Sal DiMasi’s opposition having come into question because of his golfing habits, Bailey picked the perfect moment to drop the bomb.

Goose-stepping into oblivion

Adam Bond has removed his post in which he says he just can’t help but be reminded of the Nazis whenever he thinks about opponents of the proposed Middleborough casino. Now I wish I’d quoted an excerpt when I alluded to it yesterday.

Oh, wait — Bellicose Bumpkin has it here. It’s nice to know that Bond’s brilliance lives on.

The Bailey Brothers

Scott Van Voorhis reports in the Herald that casino opponents are getting serious, hiring an experienced anti-casino strategist, Dennis Bailey, to help them strategize against Gov. Deval Patrick’s three-casino plan. Bailey is the brother of former Globe staffer Doug Bailey, a PR executive who’s also working on the anti-casino campaign.

Dennis and Doug Bailey are not related to Globe columnist Steve Bailey, but he’s well-known for deriding the casino plan and for tagging Patrick with the nickname “Governor Slots.”