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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Harry L. Staley: A bet that R.I. taxpayers are bound to lose

Coming soon to Massachusetts.....?


Harry L. Staley: A bet that R.I. taxpayers are bound to lose

Published: August 05, 2013



By Harry L. Staley
Published: August 05 2013 01:00

You have never been to a casino, you say, because you don’t gamble?

Oh, how wrong you are! You may not remember, but you were there — and you still are.

In fact, if you are a Rhode Island taxpayer, you are gambling on the casino business to keep generating hundreds of millions of dollars. Unfortunately, you will never be the winner. The casinos and their General Assembly enablers have rigged the game against you.

Your state political leaders arranged for you to be there, because they are going to need your tax dollars to make up for declining casino income. All too obviously, the business is going south, and the state is not going to receive what it bargained for. Luckily, lawmakers have you as their partner.

When lawmakers got in bed with casino interests they had a plan.

The state would receive approximately $300 million per annum, said amount to be placed in the General Treasury to help offset the costs of running an out-of-control state government.

Meanwhile, to place a halo over their collective heads by demonstrating their “humanity,” it was provided that $150,000 of the funds received by the state (a “whopping” .0005 of the state’s take) would be allotted to support a program to help those unfortunates who became addicted to gambling.

And then, they stumbled on the yellow brick road.

Competition from Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, soon to be intensified by the opening of at least three Massachusetts casinos, coupled with weak national and state economies, casts an ominous shadow over the future of Rhode Island. Since no self-respecting Rhode Island General Assembly would ever consider budget cuts, the pressure is mounting to find ways to offset the certain shrinkage in gambling dollars, now the state’s third-largest revenue source.

The first reaction was to cut the addiction program, symbolically declaring the problem solved. The program is dead, with no tears being shed in the State House over the fate of those addicted to gambling. And, not a whimper from the state’s beneficent social-welfare agencies.

The overarching solution to economic stress is becoming clear: Rhode Island will continue spending at present or higher levels, with the inevitable shortfalls to be made up by levying additional taxes, licensing fees, business regulation, etc. It will be left to the “bleeding hearts” to save the addicted, if they are to be salvaged, by voluntary funding or by persuading the legislature to levy another tax.

You, the General Assembly, and the casinos are partners in their patented “Heads I win, tails you lose” game. Every taxpayer who opposed gambling, for whatever reason, has been had. It will be you, the taxpayer and silent partner, who will be forced to support the very thing you opposed: the growth of casinos in Rhode Island — and, when they fail to meet initial expectations, higher taxes.

That is how it’s done in Rhode Island. And that is how it will continue to be done until those who pay the ever-increasing bill wake up, and more importantly, wise up. It’s one thing to be had, it’s another to celebrate it by continuing to elect to office those who are betting — with your money — on your continued ignorance and refusal to act.

In the meantime, enjoy!

Harry L. Staley is a board member of Concerned Citizens Against Casino Gambling and chairman of Rhode Island Taxpayers.

http://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/commentary/20130805-harry-l.-staley-a-bet-that-r.i.-taxpayers-are-bound-to-lose.ece

 

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