Fitzgerald: Pols sell out city for blood money

Fitzgerald: Pols sell out city for blood money
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
By: Joe Fitzgerald

They hear just fine, but the powers­ that be do not listen, which is different, because if they listened they couldn’t kid themselves into believing they’d be serving the public well by tearing apart homes and families.

Make no mistake, that’s what gambling can do, which is why it’s called a family disease, a term you’ll never hear from those so-called public servants now closing­ in on bringing casino gambling to this commonwealth.

Some time back, when legislation permitting casinos was winding its way through Beacon Hill, a senator named Sue Tucker zeroed in on some ugliness her colleagues preferred to ignore.

“I found references to wire­tapping, money laundering, enterprise crime,” she said. “But what really got to me were the lines requiring casinos to check their parking lots every two hours for abandoned children.”

To his credit, House Speaker Bob DeLeo called here one day asking for the number of a reader who was livid over the prospect of casino gambling.

He had hoped to offer her re­assurance.

“I told him how my father hocked my mother’s ring, then her watch, always promising to replace them ‘when my ship comes in,’” she said.

“I told him if my father saw two cockroaches on the floor, he’d want to bet a buck on which one reached the wall first.

“When he asked how I felt about casinos and slots I said, ‘People sitting there all night long, swinging their arms on levers, pouring in quarters; that’s how we’re going to fix our economy?’”

Oh, pols can rationalize it; look at all the money the losers will leave behind.

But they can’t justify it, because too often those losers are moms and dads who can’t afford the losses,­ but are seduced by the cruel allure that maybe the next bet will be the one that helps them crawl out of an ever-­deepening hole.

While citizens have every right to engage in a destructive obsession, the government has no business encouraging them.

Indeed, from its founding days, one of government’s fundamental roles has been to “promote the general welfare,” remember?

How does taking blood money from suckers square with that?

Now, in an unconscionable rush to create this cash cow at Suffolk Downs, our public servants would disenfranchise most of Boston’s voters, not allowing them to voice their feelings in a referendum, even though the whole city would have to pay for many of the resources a casino would need.

Then again, sweetheart deals have never been big on democracy.

Public service? Please. This is a public disgrace. - See more at: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/joe_fitzgerald/2013/08/fitzgerald_pols_sell_out_city_for_blood_money#sthash.vxKuDArd.dpuf