In response to Salem's Mayor Kim Driscoll's orginal misguided cheerleading, To the Voters of Salem was posted to which she reccently responded with an email containing numerous factual errors, such as the overstated licensing fees and fictitious revenue projections.
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When elected officials repeat verbatim the predators' rhetoric that is, at best, nonsensical, it seems we have elected a flock of sheep.
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The following was sent to the Mayor in response to her misinformation --
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Honorable Mayor Driscoll:
I appreciate your response and your sincerity, allow me to highlight some areas
that merit your reconsideration.
When Middleboro was confronted with a casino, the agreement was rushed through
without consideration of the impacts. No impartial studies were conducted and no
costs were assessed. No population projections were done. School impact costs,
presented by the Superintendent, consisted only of capital projects pending. Since
the public schools are at capacity, an increase in population will mandate new school construction.
Glenn Marshall, currently in federal prison, repeatedly stated that the increase in
vehicular traffic would be 50,000 cars daily. That increase in traffic alone necessitates increased public safety costs.
Questions and opposition were gaveled to silence, while proponents were allowed to
cheer and applaud and disrupt meetings.
To me, the refusal to allow balanced debate signaled that there were things some
want to remain hidden.
That tyranny propelled a number of us to investigate, research, read many tedious
reports and network with others who have endured the devastating impacts of
predatory gambling around the country.
I learned it was just like my friend, Gladys said, in the The Playbook .
To their credit, WMCAT has examined the costs and the Palmer Study Committee
proved that the impacts are beyond the capacity of a small town to absorb. The
cost of those impacts explains WHY gambling must continually expand.
Beyond the casino glitter and flashing lights is nothing but Fool's Gold.
United to Stop Slots in Mass, a non-profit coalition was formed on July 4th to
circulate the truth of predatory gambling. The organization enjoys volunteer
support from a wide range of organizations from all political spectrums,
including the League of Women Voters and the Massachusetts Family Institute.
The site represents a work in progress that is continually being updated, but I invite your review. There is a resource page that includes a large number of reports that are gradually being increased on a regular basis.
Casinos, slot parlors and racinos (race tracks with slots) are designed to keep
you in your seat feeding money into machines.
Slots are designed to addict.
Slots have been termed the "Crack Cocaine" of gambling because of their
addictive quality.
Every gimmick and technique is employed to keep you seated from free alcohol
to piping in oxygen.
Professor Grinols examined sales tax records to prove that travelers move
directly to the slots facility. They don't visit tourist destinations.
Slots by any name absorb discretionary income and prevent the local economic
multiplier necessary for job creation.
Professor Kindt has studied the issue widely and indicated that each slot
machine permanently removes one job from the local economy.
For each $1 in tax revenue, the cost is $3 to the taxpayer. The cost is not solely
for social costs caused by gambling addiction, but also due to enforcement,
investigation, prosecution, auditing, monitoring, incarceration.
Within a 50 mile radius, gambling addiction will at least double, as will crime.
The business model for casinos is 10% of players produce 90% of revenue.
The gimmicks are designed to keep those 10% in their seats while they
"play to extinction" - meaning until they have exhaused their cash, investments,
401Ks, re-mortgaged the house, maxed their credits cards, borrowed, stolen,
embezzled.
Children are abandoned in cars. Families are torn apart.
Because gambling addiction is unique, it has the lowest referral rate and the
highest suicide rate.
If we can reasonably expect a gambling addiction rate of 5%, shouldn't we
ask if we would allow a toy on the market that injured 5% of children? Or a
drug that harmed 5% of users?
This isn't solely a moral issue, but also one of economic costs.
Professor Goodman estimated that each gambling addict costs $10,000 per year.
He estimated the public safety costs at about $13,000 each.
Although AG Coakley "cautions caution," her 2 predecessors have spoken out
against expanded gambling, as has former State Treasurer Joe Malone,
former Governor Dukakis, and former candidate for Lt. Governor, Bob Massie.
The dollar figures you used were withdrawn immediately after they were
publicly pronounced and challenged as 'grossly overstated.'
The gambling proponents who testified at both Senator Spilka's June 2009 forum
and the October 29th "Gambling Hearing" ALL indicated that licensing fees are
determined by potential revenue.
The Billion Dollar Mammouth in Palmer is gradually shrinking in size, so that
current proposals are for a $500 million facility.
Since Mohegun Sun will be downgraded in financial markets, just as Foxwoods
was, capital markets will be unavailable.
The Middleboro Mega Monster has dwindled to a Bingo Parlor.
Tribal casinos have defaulted. Casinos have gone bankrupt, re-structured,
defaulted or been foreclosed.
Senator Pacheco included a $25 million licensing fee in his previous budget
proposal.
A BSU study over + 20 years proved that low wage jobs were created and
local wages declined. Actual job creation was 1%.
In Steve Norton and Centaur and Another Bankruptcy, I wrote --
Mr. Norton promises "...few positions would require even a high school diploma."
In other words, you are guaranteed low wage, low skill, dead end jobs.
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We need jobs we can be proud of, where there's an opportunity for advancement,
promotion, jobs with a future that provide hope.
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Even Bernie Madoff gave people jobs, better paying than a casino job, with his phony prosperity scheme.....casino capitalism is the same rouse.
Rep. Tom Conroy reported that realistic gambling revenues equal lottery losses.
As you know, lottery revenues are returned to cities and towns at a rate of 25 cents
on the dollar. The slot revenue math is pennies on the dollar.
Rep. Conroy, in a recent presentation in Sudbury, explained that the State of
New Jersey employs 1500 state employees dedicated solely to casinos.
Their costs including pensions, benefits, training, office space, state owned
vehicles, gas and maintenance?
Only well funded lobbyists can reduce predatory gambling to soundbytes when
the opponents' arguments have filled volumes.
I would also call to your attention the Resolution passed at the Democratic
Convention --
Whereas the Democratic Party has a long and proud tradition of advocating for social justice, working for policies that promote the public health, and fighting to protect citizens from exploitive and predatory business practices;
And whereas modern slot machines use neuroscience-informed technology to mesmerize and entrap gamblers and to keep them playing until they have exhausted their resources ("playing to extinction");
And whereas medical research has documented the highly addictive nature of the brain's chemical reactions to slot machine stimulation;
And whereas licensing and promoting such addictive, predatory gambling technology for the purpose of raising State revenues goes against the aforementioned values and principles for which the Democratic Party has long stood, and is at odds with the ideals that underlie our Party's honorable and consistent struggle to end the deceptive and predatory lending, marketing, and pricing practices that have pushed so many families to the brink;
And whereas legalizing slot machines would erode participation in the Lottery and siphon away from local small businesses the discretionary spending on goods and services that they depend on;
And whereas the development of slot machine parlors would neither create significant new jobs, nor increase tourism in Massachusetts;
And whereas evidence from other states indicates that the long-term costs of gambling addiction -- increased substance abuse, increased crime, increased family discord and dysfunction -- outweigh the short term benefits of licenses and gambling revenues;
Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Massachusetts Democratic Party, as a matter of both principle and policy, opposes the legalization of slot machines and any similar efforts to promote addictive and predatory gambling as a means of raising public revenues.
From what I see, the only people who get rich from casinos are investors.
I respectfully request that you reconsider your support for predatory gambling
and join with me to call for an impartial cost benefit analysis, just as New
Hampshire has recently done.
Respectfully,
Jessie Powell
Middleboro, MA
'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.' Margaret Mead
Middleboro Remembers
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