JILL STEIN TO SPEAK ON CASINOS
[ALERT: This talk is Monday, August 2, 7pm in Fall River.]
Press Release from Citizens for the Common Good:
FALL RIVER, Massachusetts—Jill Stein, Green-Rainbow candidate for governor, will be speaking about casinos as jobs killers—and how we can create better, more secure jobs across the Commonwealth—on Monday, August 2, 2010, at 7 p.m. at Calvary Temple, 4321 North Main St, Fall River, MA.
The event is open to the public and press. Ms. Stein will respond to questions from the audience following her talk.
Anti-casino bumper stickers will be available for free and light refreshments will be served.
Stein, the only candidate for governor who is publicly opposed to expanded gaming, released a statement on July 30, 2010, calling on the Massachusetts Legislature to call a halt to the push for casino gambling in Massachusetts in order to give the state time to assess new developments indicating that the casino economy is heading for trouble. Says Stein, “a bad idea just got a lot worse” with Congress moving to legalize online gambling, a move that could undercut revenues for any casinos built in Massachusetts.
“Beacon Hill is showing a decided lack of business sense by putting on the rose-colored glasses and making a bet without considering the risks.” Stein noted that even without the competition of legal online gambling, casino states such as Nevada have been suffering in the current economic downturn. “The casino industry is extremely vulnerable to downturns in the economy, because people gamble less when the economy is soft. Nevada—which is loaded with casinos—has the highest unemployment rate in the nation according to June figures. They are suffering a jobless rate of 14% while Massachusetts is around 9.2%. Nevada also leads the nation in foreclosures and bankruptcies. And Atlantic City, with 11 casinos, has a jobless rate higher than Boston. Do we really want to emulate these economies? Let’s think twice before going down that road.”
Among the other risks of casinos, Stein noted that “Casino revenues can take a nose-dive if neighboring states open up their own casinos. And the destination casinos are vulnerable to spikes in the price of gasoline. We could easily find ourselves being held hostage to a network of casinos that are in danger of going under.”
“We know that casinos are net job killers. It’s been calculated that each slot machine pulls enough money out of the economy to kill one job. So once we build casinos, pink slips will be handed out all over Massachusetts. The casinos will concentrate a few jobs in the casino communities, but not enough to prevent a net job loss statewide. And if the casinos begin to fail, we could have a nightmare of unemployment.”
Stein noted that the state of New Hampshire commissioned an objective study of potential casinos in New Hampshire and found that the net benefits of opening casinos was very questionable. “Beacon Hill hasn’t permitted such a study to be conducted for Massachusetts. They are afraid of what the answer might be. They have just adopted a pro-casino mantra, and counted upon keeping the microphone away from anyone who might ask them tough questions. The House didn’t even hold public hearings on their casino bill. This lack of scrutiny is a prescription for making a big mistake.”
“The politicians are saying that casinos are not a complete solution, as if that is a wise attitude. It’s time for them to admit the truth: Casinos are not part of any solution. To create the sound, sustainable economy of the future, we need to make sure that casinos are never built in Massachusetts. We can create better jobs, and more secure jobs, by investing in the green economy of the future, and taking care of our small businesses. The last thing we need is a chain of job-killing casinos that make Massachusetts look more like Nevada.”
Showing posts with label Jill Stein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jill Stein. Show all posts
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Stein Gets It Right!
Stein Stands Alone Against Gambling
By Maureen Turner
Earlier this month, as the Massachusetts House took up—and quickly passed—Speaker Robert DeLeo's bill to build two casinos and add slots machines at four racetracks, Jill Stein, the Green-Rainbow party's gubernatorial candidate, headed to the Statehouse with other opponents to deliver a petition calling for a casino and slots boycott.
The online petition (http://gopetition.com/online/35348.html) calls on the Legislature and Gov. Deval Patrick "to reject attempts to establish a government-endorsed program of predatory gambling in Massachusetts.
"The predatory gambling industry is harmful to local businesses, undermines sound job growth, and fosters addiction, bankruptcy, crime, divorce and other social problems," the petition reads. "Building casinos locks us in to high greenhouse gas emissions and make[s] our economy vulnerable to oil price shock. In the final analysis, these problems will consume more tax dollars than we can recover from gambling taxes."
Signers also pledged to not go to casinos or slots parlors and to "strongly encourage my children and family members to avoid such establishments. Instead, I pledge to direct my discretionary expenditures into locally-owned, productive businesses that are good neighbors in the community, that do not exploit people with addictions, workers, or the environment, and which are the best way of creating permanent jobs in a sustainable economy."
The petition was posted on April 6, and by the end of last week had collected about 500 signatures.
*
In announcing her support of the effort, Stein had especially harsh words for DeLeo, who declined to hold public hearings on his bill. (Senate President Therese Murray, who in the past has supported casinos but not slots, has said that body will hold public hearings before it votes on any casino bill. The Senate is expected to take up its own version of a casino bill in the next couple of months, after the passage of the new state budget.)
Stein accused the speaker of "attempting to ram [the bill] through the House," just days after accepting campaign contributions from casino lobbyists. DeLeo held a major campaign fundraiser the week before the House casino vote. The list of donors won't be available until Sept. 7, the next filing deadline for legislators' campaign finance reports.
According to the Associated Press, in 2009, DeLeo received $8,000 in donations from lobbyists for firms that count casino interests among their clients. Murray received $7,800; Patrick, $4,900; Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, $8,100.
Stein also took on the claim, made by gambling supporters, that casinos will create much-needed jobs. "Rather than letting casinos suck money out of our economy, we should be supporting local small businesses, and creating good wage green jobs that will be here for the long haul," she said. "We can create more jobs per dollar spent by avoiding casinos and slots. And we can also avoid the burden of permanent casino blight, which includes failed small businesses, gambling addiction, bankruptcies, broken families, crime, sprawl and pollution.
"Casinos kill more jobs than they create. And coping with the problems caused by casino gambling will cost taxpayers more than will be received in tax revenue. This is a bad deal for the people of Massachusetts, and truth needs to be told before an irreversible mistake is made by the Legislature."
Among the other gubernatorial candidates, Patrick supports casinos but opposes racetrack slot machines. His opponent for the Democratic nomination, Grace Ross (the Green-Rainbow candidate in 2006), neither supported nor opposed DeLeo's bill "because it pits 'different good forces against each other'—advocates for jobs and revenue against people concerned about the social impact," the Boston Globe recently reported. Independent Tim Cahill and Republican Charlie Baker both support casinos, while Republican Christy Mihos opposes the creation of casinos but does support racetrack slots.
By Maureen Turner
Earlier this month, as the Massachusetts House took up—and quickly passed—Speaker Robert DeLeo's bill to build two casinos and add slots machines at four racetracks, Jill Stein, the Green-Rainbow party's gubernatorial candidate, headed to the Statehouse with other opponents to deliver a petition calling for a casino and slots boycott.
The online petition (http://gopetition.com/online/35348.html) calls on the Legislature and Gov. Deval Patrick "to reject attempts to establish a government-endorsed program of predatory gambling in Massachusetts.
"The predatory gambling industry is harmful to local businesses, undermines sound job growth, and fosters addiction, bankruptcy, crime, divorce and other social problems," the petition reads. "Building casinos locks us in to high greenhouse gas emissions and make[s] our economy vulnerable to oil price shock. In the final analysis, these problems will consume more tax dollars than we can recover from gambling taxes."
Signers also pledged to not go to casinos or slots parlors and to "strongly encourage my children and family members to avoid such establishments. Instead, I pledge to direct my discretionary expenditures into locally-owned, productive businesses that are good neighbors in the community, that do not exploit people with addictions, workers, or the environment, and which are the best way of creating permanent jobs in a sustainable economy."
The petition was posted on April 6, and by the end of last week had collected about 500 signatures.
*
In announcing her support of the effort, Stein had especially harsh words for DeLeo, who declined to hold public hearings on his bill. (Senate President Therese Murray, who in the past has supported casinos but not slots, has said that body will hold public hearings before it votes on any casino bill. The Senate is expected to take up its own version of a casino bill in the next couple of months, after the passage of the new state budget.)
Stein accused the speaker of "attempting to ram [the bill] through the House," just days after accepting campaign contributions from casino lobbyists. DeLeo held a major campaign fundraiser the week before the House casino vote. The list of donors won't be available until Sept. 7, the next filing deadline for legislators' campaign finance reports.
According to the Associated Press, in 2009, DeLeo received $8,000 in donations from lobbyists for firms that count casino interests among their clients. Murray received $7,800; Patrick, $4,900; Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, $8,100.
Stein also took on the claim, made by gambling supporters, that casinos will create much-needed jobs. "Rather than letting casinos suck money out of our economy, we should be supporting local small businesses, and creating good wage green jobs that will be here for the long haul," she said. "We can create more jobs per dollar spent by avoiding casinos and slots. And we can also avoid the burden of permanent casino blight, which includes failed small businesses, gambling addiction, bankruptcies, broken families, crime, sprawl and pollution.
"Casinos kill more jobs than they create. And coping with the problems caused by casino gambling will cost taxpayers more than will be received in tax revenue. This is a bad deal for the people of Massachusetts, and truth needs to be told before an irreversible mistake is made by the Legislature."
Among the other gubernatorial candidates, Patrick supports casinos but opposes racetrack slot machines. His opponent for the Democratic nomination, Grace Ross (the Green-Rainbow candidate in 2006), neither supported nor opposed DeLeo's bill "because it pits 'different good forces against each other'—advocates for jobs and revenue against people concerned about the social impact," the Boston Globe recently reported. Independent Tim Cahill and Republican Charlie Baker both support casinos, while Republican Christy Mihos opposes the creation of casinos but does support racetrack slots.
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