Below is the testimony offered by Rev. Bob Massie at today's Senate Hearings on Predatory Gambling:
This post is based on my testimony today against the Senate Gambling bill
In the rush to pass a casino bill without adequate public awareness or evidence, there are many unanswered questions which senators -- and citizens -- should consider. Here are my top ten, though unlike David Letterman's list, this is no laughing matter.
10. Why did the Senate hold hearings on Tuesday on a bill that was released only last Friday? There was no time to digest it or to react to it properly.
9. Why is the Senate preparing to vote on a bill for which there has been no independent assessment of the costs? Specifically, exactly how much will regulation, law enforcement, community mitigation, addiction services, lost Lottery revenues, increased crime, embezzlement, and bankruptcy cost the economy and taxpayers?
8. Can the legislators point to a single state where the introduction of expanded gambling has closed the budget gap? If not, what proof is there that the rosy predictions of the casino billionaires and their paid researchers and lobbyists will come true?
7. What will happen to the market when neighboring states all rush to add more casinos and slot machines to respond to the "threat" from Massachusetts? Will states be fighting over the same limited pool of dollars -- or will the result be to create hundreds of thousands more gamblers who throw their money away?
6. What will the legislature say to parents, especially those from outside Massachusetts, who are worried that slot machines and casinos which target young people will be easily accessible to students throughout the state?
5. Can Senators who favor this legislation point to any city or state where sucking disposable income out of a local economy has improved the quality of life? Since it has been shown that every slot machine destroys one permanent job, are we prepared to cope with the loss of 9,000-12,000 jobs that casinos will destroy? Similarly, does gambling help the creation of small businesses? Does gambling reduce corruption? Do major national companies want to locate their operations and their employees near gambling centers?
4. Why do so many use the term "gaming" to sugarcoat an industry that is predatory in nature? We reject predatory marketing, and predatory lending, and predatory pricing because of their hidden harm to citizens. Predatory gambling does the same and should also be rejected. Casinos rely on addicted customers for most of their earnings; "gaming" is a trick phrase designed by pro-casino marketers to hide the destructive principle at the heart of their business model.
3. How carefully has the Senate studied the scientific and industry data -- for example the work of Dr. Hans Breiter at Mass General Hospital -- that proves that electronic slot machines are designed to be addictive?
2. If the medical industry could show that by infecting tens of thousands of our neighbors with a new virus they could increase hospital construction, local employment, and sales of technology would the House, Senate, and governor support this idea as a jobs bill? If not, how is the medical scenario different from authorizing casinos?
1. Finally, the number one question: under what political or moral theory do our elected representatives believe that governments have the right to increase addiction among one group of citizens in order to help another? The Senate acknowledges that some lives and families will be destroyed by this action. What is the "acceptable" number of destroyed lives? Even if compulsive gambling only affects 2% of a population, that's 120,000 people in Massachusetts. Exactly how many of our neighbors and colleagues, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters is it acceptable for this industry to entice, ensnare, and obliterate?
The only number that is consistent with the purpose of democracy, the principles of both parties, and the moral duties of a public servant working for the common good is zero. That it is why predatory casino and gambling are currently illegal in Massachusetts -- and why they must forever remain so.
Bob Massie
Vice President
United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts (USS-Mass)
This post is based on my testimony today against the Senate Gambling bill
In the rush to pass a casino bill without adequate public awareness or evidence, there are many unanswered questions which senators -- and citizens -- should consider. Here are my top ten, though unlike David Letterman's list, this is no laughing matter.
10. Why did the Senate hold hearings on Tuesday on a bill that was released only last Friday? There was no time to digest it or to react to it properly.
9. Why is the Senate preparing to vote on a bill for which there has been no independent assessment of the costs? Specifically, exactly how much will regulation, law enforcement, community mitigation, addiction services, lost Lottery revenues, increased crime, embezzlement, and bankruptcy cost the economy and taxpayers?
8. Can the legislators point to a single state where the introduction of expanded gambling has closed the budget gap? If not, what proof is there that the rosy predictions of the casino billionaires and their paid researchers and lobbyists will come true?
7. What will happen to the market when neighboring states all rush to add more casinos and slot machines to respond to the "threat" from Massachusetts? Will states be fighting over the same limited pool of dollars -- or will the result be to create hundreds of thousands more gamblers who throw their money away?
6. What will the legislature say to parents, especially those from outside Massachusetts, who are worried that slot machines and casinos which target young people will be easily accessible to students throughout the state?
5. Can Senators who favor this legislation point to any city or state where sucking disposable income out of a local economy has improved the quality of life? Since it has been shown that every slot machine destroys one permanent job, are we prepared to cope with the loss of 9,000-12,000 jobs that casinos will destroy? Similarly, does gambling help the creation of small businesses? Does gambling reduce corruption? Do major national companies want to locate their operations and their employees near gambling centers?
4. Why do so many use the term "gaming" to sugarcoat an industry that is predatory in nature? We reject predatory marketing, and predatory lending, and predatory pricing because of their hidden harm to citizens. Predatory gambling does the same and should also be rejected. Casinos rely on addicted customers for most of their earnings; "gaming" is a trick phrase designed by pro-casino marketers to hide the destructive principle at the heart of their business model.
3. How carefully has the Senate studied the scientific and industry data -- for example the work of Dr. Hans Breiter at Mass General Hospital -- that proves that electronic slot machines are designed to be addictive?
2. If the medical industry could show that by infecting tens of thousands of our neighbors with a new virus they could increase hospital construction, local employment, and sales of technology would the House, Senate, and governor support this idea as a jobs bill? If not, how is the medical scenario different from authorizing casinos?
1. Finally, the number one question: under what political or moral theory do our elected representatives believe that governments have the right to increase addiction among one group of citizens in order to help another? The Senate acknowledges that some lives and families will be destroyed by this action. What is the "acceptable" number of destroyed lives? Even if compulsive gambling only affects 2% of a population, that's 120,000 people in Massachusetts. Exactly how many of our neighbors and colleagues, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters is it acceptable for this industry to entice, ensnare, and obliterate?
The only number that is consistent with the purpose of democracy, the principles of both parties, and the moral duties of a public servant working for the common good is zero. That it is why predatory casino and gambling are currently illegal in Massachusetts -- and why they must forever remain so.
Bob Massie
Vice President
United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts (USS-Mass)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment