The grossly flawed casino bill making its way through the Massachusetts Senate has failed to consider the issue raised below because of great haste in concocting something/anything before the legislative session ends to please the Gambling Industry.
In spite of assurances that "we'll get it right," maybe they won't.
Where in the Massachusetts legislation is this probited?
California Casinos Reaping Millions from Welfare Recipients
It should come as no surprise to anyone that poor folks are among the most vulnerable "guests" at casinos. But news that casinos in California accept Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Cards, which are essentially ATM debit cards, has created an uproar, as it should. Jack Dolan, the Los Angeles Times reporter who broke the story, wrote that the cards are accepted at 32 of the state's 58 tribal casinos and 47 of the 90 poker rooms around the state. Talking about saturation! The withdrawals reportedly accounted for about $1.8 million since last October, so the loss to taxpayers is probably much higher. I'm sure that more careful investigation will show numbers in the millions of dollars.
Now, there is no question that this is reprehensible behavior on the part of the people who receive welfare benefits, but it's also reprehensible that this has been allowed to go on for who knows how long? Casino owners and operators don't care where the money that makes them billionaires comes from, as long as it keeps coming.
I hope this story will prompt some of the gifted journalists working in Detroit to take Jack Dolan's lead and do some investigative reporting of their own about the three Detroit Casinos, Greektown, MGM Grand, and MotorCity, and see what they come up with. We need to know how widespread this is, whether or not the rich people who run those casinos are looking the other way while welfare recipients waste away the money that's intended to help them through tough times.
Sandra Adell, Author: CONFESSIONS OF A SLOT MACHINE QUEEN: A MEMOIR
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