"The Republican" has long been a Slot Barn Cheerleader for a financially insolvent partner proposing a Slot Barn in Palmer and recently published an editorial "Slots for Kids."
Typical of media that neglect their purpose and the public trust, they ignore letters to the editor that provide factual information or represent Slot Barn opposition.
Below is such a letter "The Republican" will ignore:
To: letters@repub.com
From: Robert Price/Springfield College/US
Subject: Sure thing a sure disaster
To the editor:
When I saw the headline of the Sunday February 20 editorial I thought for a moment that it must be April Fool's day and the writer was suggesting that readers view the biting satirical video on casinofacts.org by Gladys Kravitz, called "Slots for Tots."
I read further, waiting for the satire to begin, when I realized, to my dismay, that the writer was serious.
Those of us in organizations like Quaboag Valley Against Casinos have been working to educate the citizens about the regressive and predatory nature of the slot machine industry. While couching their lobbying with pie-in-the-sky visions of "international destination resort casinos," the gaming industry wants Class III gambling legalized in Massachusetts because of slots. The largest percentage of gaming revenue comes from slot machines.
It has been solidly documented that slot machine revenue is the most regressive revenue steam in any state with slots--meaning that the overwhelming percentage of the money comes from those persons least able to afford spending it. Also, as Leslie Stahl's expose on 60 Minutes (did the writer even look at that) showed, the gaming industry spends enormous time and energy developing slot machines and venues that are addictive. Studies at MIT reveal that the brain, while playing slots, is activated in the same way as it is while using cocaine. The goal is to get the gambler to "gamble to extinction," exhausting all his/her resources.
Do we want our state to be subsidizing such an enterprise? Is this the message that we want to convey to our children about how we value their education? Do we want our landscape littered with slot barns? Drive, as my wife and I have, I-10 from Baton Rouge to El Paso. Almost every exit has a gas station, connected to a convenience store, connected to a slot barn. Billboards no longer advertise tourist attractions, restaurants and motels but slot barns.
And the idea that revenues from slots can be inviolably designated to education is a myth. Residents of Connecticut were promised that 75% of casino revenues would be allocated to cities and towns. After a series of yearly legislative "modifications" because of other needs, that number is now closer to 25% . Would it be different in Massachusetts? Think about the promises in regard to lottery revenues, tobacco tax increases to be devoted to smoking cessation education and programs, and tolls on the Mass Pike eliminated when the road was paid for.
The "sure thing" is figment of the editor's imagination.
My suggestion for April Fool's satire: Legalize prostitution in the state. Designate the revenues for infrastructure repair. Think of the possibilities: construction of fancy brothels (jobs! jobs!), licensing of brothels and prostitutes--which could include medical exams to reduce STDS, future careers for our children. If the state is going to facilitate one deadly sin--greed--why nor another--lust..
We can call the program "Pops for Potholes" or "Bangs for Bridges."
Robert E. Price
Monson, MA 01057
Typical of media that neglect their purpose and the public trust, they ignore letters to the editor that provide factual information or represent Slot Barn opposition.
Below is such a letter "The Republican" will ignore:
To: letters@repub.com
From: Robert Price/Springfield College/US
Subject: Sure thing a sure disaster
To the editor:
When I saw the headline of the Sunday February 20 editorial I thought for a moment that it must be April Fool's day and the writer was suggesting that readers view the biting satirical video on casinofacts.org by Gladys Kravitz, called "Slots for Tots."
I read further, waiting for the satire to begin, when I realized, to my dismay, that the writer was serious.
Those of us in organizations like Quaboag Valley Against Casinos have been working to educate the citizens about the regressive and predatory nature of the slot machine industry. While couching their lobbying with pie-in-the-sky visions of "international destination resort casinos," the gaming industry wants Class III gambling legalized in Massachusetts because of slots. The largest percentage of gaming revenue comes from slot machines.
It has been solidly documented that slot machine revenue is the most regressive revenue steam in any state with slots--meaning that the overwhelming percentage of the money comes from those persons least able to afford spending it. Also, as Leslie Stahl's expose on 60 Minutes (did the writer even look at that) showed, the gaming industry spends enormous time and energy developing slot machines and venues that are addictive. Studies at MIT reveal that the brain, while playing slots, is activated in the same way as it is while using cocaine. The goal is to get the gambler to "gamble to extinction," exhausting all his/her resources.
Do we want our state to be subsidizing such an enterprise? Is this the message that we want to convey to our children about how we value their education? Do we want our landscape littered with slot barns? Drive, as my wife and I have, I-10 from Baton Rouge to El Paso. Almost every exit has a gas station, connected to a convenience store, connected to a slot barn. Billboards no longer advertise tourist attractions, restaurants and motels but slot barns.
And the idea that revenues from slots can be inviolably designated to education is a myth. Residents of Connecticut were promised that 75% of casino revenues would be allocated to cities and towns. After a series of yearly legislative "modifications" because of other needs, that number is now closer to 25% . Would it be different in Massachusetts? Think about the promises in regard to lottery revenues, tobacco tax increases to be devoted to smoking cessation education and programs, and tolls on the Mass Pike eliminated when the road was paid for.
The "sure thing" is figment of the editor's imagination.
My suggestion for April Fool's satire: Legalize prostitution in the state. Designate the revenues for infrastructure repair. Think of the possibilities: construction of fancy brothels (jobs! jobs!), licensing of brothels and prostitutes--which could include medical exams to reduce STDS, future careers for our children. If the state is going to facilitate one deadly sin--greed--why nor another--lust..
We can call the program "Pops for Potholes" or "Bangs for Bridges."
Robert E. Price
Monson, MA 01057
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