Maybe it's time to talk!

Governor Patrick graciously took time from his busy schedule to listen to concerns raised by a coalition of volunteers - those who sacrifice their personal time because of their devotion to their communities and are not paid.
.
That coalition is not filled with high paid lobbyists, or media propagandists who monopolize the conversation and the ears of Beacon Hill.

.
Disappointing, but not surprising, was the immediate dismissal by the embattled Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo whose mind was made up long ago, facts be damned!

.

DeLeo promised consensus building, but seems more intent on imposing his iron will, generating conflict and accomplishing little.

.

And then there's the Senate President who boasts that she doesn't read anything that is anti-gambling. How's that for an impressive open mind in determining a major public policy decision?

.

This is the same Senate President Therese Murray who said "Ca Ching" and gestured as if she was pulling the lever on a slot machine.

.

Clearly, the Senate President's advisers haven't informed her that slots don't have levers any more because they require too much time to pull - aahhhh! those few seconds matter when you're feeding addiction!

.
Look, Ma! No levers! This from Mohegan Sun.

.

.

From Lynn --

In a Dec. 9 letter to DeLeo and state Senate President Therese Murray, Patrick said talks with casino opponents “confirmed in my mind that slot parlors, ‘racinos’ or any other form of convenience gambling is not something I can support.” In the letter, Patrick encouraged them to meet with the casino opponents as well. “One of the ideas they proposed was for a fresh, independent and transparent analysis of the benefits and costs of expanded gaming,” Patrick wrote.

.

It's time for an open, public dialogue that considers the economics of this issue.

Surely the same coalition that spoke with the Governor, Cabinet members and the Attorney General's Office would welcome an honest discussion.

Maybe it's time to talk instead of tossing barbs at political activists who passed this Resolution at the Democratic Convention --

RESOLUTION

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.

.