Casino proponents control debate

Kudos to Mr. Feingold for raising important issues in the debate.


Casino proponents control debate

ROBERT FEINGOLD


It is not surprising that Clyde W. Barrow is releasing yet another casino proponent-sponsored poll showing the results they paid for ("Poll shows support for New Bedford casino building," April 27). The surprising thing is that UMass Dartmouth allows this man to hide behind its imprimatur of civic-minded professionalism and objectivity. He should separate from the university entirely and work for the people who are really paying for his results.

His paid-for polls should not be given the headlines they receive from The Standard-Times, as it improperly bolsters their credibility by publication. As a counterbalance, I suggest that The Standard-Times staff survey the top executives and human resources chiefs of the companies at the New Bedford Business Park to see whether they are in favor of a gambling casino in New Bedford.

As I see it, the heart and soul of New Bedford is its work ethic. Work hard and succeed. That is the creed of the fishermen. That is the creed of the factory worker. That is the creed of the health care workers at Southcoast Hospitals and the employees at Acushnet Company and the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center and so many other local companies. That has been the creed on which New Bedford's economic engine has always been based.

Gambling is based on the fiction that you can get something for nothing. On that is based the most incredible profit-making engine, taking money from people who get almost nothing in return. It makes selling bottled water seem like a low-profit activity. And those profits would leave New Bedford on a fast train.

Gambling is a pyramid of greed based on the willingness of people to pay lots of money on the remote chance of getting money for doing absolutely nothing. The ripple effect of that unrestrained greed can destroy the fabric of a working community. The creed of gambling and the creed of New Bedford, get something for nothing versus work hard and succeed, are mutually exclusive and irreconcilable. The gambling creed threatens to destroy the economic values as well as the work ethic of New Bedford.

Real estate values would immediately be artificially increased by the development of a casino, making development for other business prohibitively expensive. The flashy marketing of "get something for nothing" undermines the determination of those working hard for their living, and attracts them to the shortcut of the gambling culture, the easy way out. We have enough problems from those who choose the shortcut of the drug trade. This will be another nail in the coffin of the ethic that made New Bedford strong for many generations.

One other factor to consider is the impact of the gambling lobby on government. Does anyone recall that just after the casino bill was defeated in the Massachusetts House through the determined efforts of its speaker, Leon Dragone hinted in The Standard-Times on May 8, 2008 that the speaker would be gone soon and that "the issue is far from dead, and I think it's going to reappear sooner than most people think."

And immediately thereafter, a blizzard of reputation-damaging reports on the speaker hit the papers, leading to his departure.

The area's House and Senate delegation are in support of gambling now. Do we need to survey how much they have received in the past two years from the pro-gambling interests to begin to understand the shift?

Now that the United States Supreme Court has ruled that corporations, including casino companies, can make unlimited contributions to politicians, do we really have any reason to believe that casino interests will not be able to control the outcome of most issues that they have an interest in? Is that something we really are willing to suffer?

Our economy is on the road to recovery. In my opinion, reaching for gambling for a short-term fix is a bad bet because the long-term problems will be with us long after the recession is a distant memory.

It's always curious that polls conducted by others produce results that differ from Mr. Barrow.

Boston Globe poll shows gambling opposition
Boston Globe poll shows opposition to predatory gambling --

As for expanded gambling, which Patrick and lawmakers are currently negotiating, 33 percent said they support creating resort casinos, while only 3 percent supported adding slot parlors at the state’s race trace track; 16 percent said they had no preference, and 38 percent said they don’t want expanded gambling in the state.

AND

70% Oppose CT Gambling Expansion