|
Freedom Will Conquer Racism
Click
Here |
Romney: I Won't Support
More Legalized Gaming
Midway through
his third year in office, Gov. Mitt Romney is serving notice that he
won’t support more legalized gambling in Massachusetts.
In 2003, Romney’s first budget
called for gaming facilities in neighboring states to deliver $75 million
in payments to Massachusetts in exchange for the Bay State agreeing
not to expand gambling in the
state. Romney said then that if that didn’t work, he’d push to legalize
video lottery terminals that would be similar to those already legal
in Rhode Island. But Romney is singing a slightly different tune now.
He wrote Friday (September
16, 2005)in a Boston Globe letter to the editor, "The last time the
Legislature seriously considered an expansion of gaming in Massachusetts,
we were facing a $3 billion budget deficit. Since then, we have closed
the budget gap without raising
taxes and without resorting to new forms of gaming. In fact, over the
last two years, we have run surpluses in the hundreds of millions of
dollars. I am not proposing, or even considering, an expansion of gaming.
If someone were to bring forward a proposal, it is
not something I would support given our economic circumstances
and the social costs associated with gaming."
Racetrack owners for years
have been unsuccessfully urging
the Legislature to allow them to offer slot machines. Lawmakers have
been reluctant to endorse expanded gaming in part
because the state Lottery, which funnels money to cities and
towns, is so successful. The governor’s pronouncement, and the veto
threat implied in it, raises the barrier facing proponents of casinos
and slot machines.
(This MassNews Story
was Originally Published April 2, 2003)
Passionate Testimony on Gambling—From Both
Sides
Residents of R.I. and CT Strongest Against It
Sidebar:
| No
fewer than ten bills regarding gambling were heard the at the
State House on Monday.
The hall was packed.
The most visible contingent were casino supporters wearing T-shirts
with the slogan, "Casinos + Unions = Good Jobs." Despite
that sentiment and the growing sense of panic over the state fiscal
situation, however, testimony was heard on both sides—in
fact several sides—of the issue. |
|
 |
After Attorney General Tom Reilly
made his plea that any legislation include a comprehensive gaming act.
Treasurer Tim Cahill asked that the legislature do nothing to harm the
lottery, and a parade of legislators and citizen panels testified before
the committee.
The sides taken by legislators
who testified before the committee should be no surprise to anyone. Sen.
Joan Menard (D-Somerset), a sponsor of one of the pro-casino bills told
the committee, "We should site three commercial casinos. This is
an opportunity being presented and we should take it." She concluded
that the people of Massachusetts have already embraced gambling; therefore
this is no big leap into the unknown. She said, "Everybody's grandmother
goes to Foxwoods, and they go every week. They go to shows, they go to
spas. Is that a good thing? I think so."
Rep. David Flynn (D-Bridgewater)
expressed that he was "very disappointed in the leadership coming
from the Governor's office, the [House] Speaker's office and the Senate
President on this issue." He asked, "How can we leave $100 million
on the table?" He advocated immediately placing 1,500 slot machines
in each of the state's four racetracks. ...READ
MORE...
(This MassNews Story
was Originally Published April 2, 2003)
Would You Like to Live in Vegas?
Is
it necessary to turn our state into a Las Vegas or a Hong Kong in order
to survive? As you may guess, this possibility has me and many others
upset. But it has an "up" side also. Finally, we have discovered
something that's going to reveal everyone's core values.
|
|
We
agree we have almost no manufacturing jobs left. But most Beacon
Hill types don't even consider trying to bring them back. They
say gambling is required. One of them, Rep. Asselin (D-Springfield)
is, at least, honest and frank about his beliefs. He's joined
by some desperate citizens who are still living in the once-thriving
city of Holyoke without a way to support their families. Also,
the Majority Leader, Sen. Linda Melconian (D-Springfield), insists
they need a casino out there.
If
we do give a welcome to casinos, it's a given that prostitution
will come with it. Why not hurry that up and really get the economy
moving? Let the teenagers earn some extra money for their families.
We could provide jobs for young female and male prostitutes. Debauchery
for everyone. |
Atty.
J. Edward Pawlick, Publisher |
Maybe we could even get Barney
Frank to run it for us. He's had plenty of experience with his homosexual
prostitution house where he helped young runaway teenage boys get off
the streets with an offer of a shelter over their heads. He could even
bring Steve Gobie back to assist him again. While some will say that I
am now being "mean," it is the truth about that leader, isn't
it? ..READ
MORE...
(This MassNews Story
was Originally Published March 3, 2003)
Legislature Divided; Serious Problems Seen Casinos Unwise for Mass., Says
Rep. Bosley
One vocal
critic of casino gambling on Beacon Hill is the Chairman of the House
Committee On Government Regulations, Rep. Dan Bosley (D-North Adams).
Bosley thinks it is unwise both from an economic and social perspective
to approve casino gaming in the Commonwealth. He issued a report against
casino gambling in April 1997 that he credits with helping to defeat a
major casino and slot machine proposal that was voted on soon afterward.
Bosley tells
MassNews he will oppose casino gambling if it comes up again. Asked
if he could block it in his committee, Bosley says he could hold
it up in his committee for 18 months, but it is not in his nature
to do that. While all of the gambling bills have to go through his
committee, he says he would fully expect somebody to use the budget
process to add an amendment to the budget so that it would go right
to the floor. "At some point, we'll have a healthy debate on
the floor," he says.
Bosley
thinks there will be a lively debate this year because casino lobbyists
are back in force on Beacon Hill. |
|
| Their argument,
he says, is, "These are tough economic times, let us put up
casinos to ease your burden here and make some money for the state."
|
Rep. Dan Bosley (D-North Adams) is a strong critic of
gambling. |
...READ
MORE...
|
|
