The Republican: Shame on You!

We already know about the Fake Posters - if one reads the comments and the letters to the editor, it is clear that the one-sided tactics of the media - press, television and radio - are intent on creating the goose-step march toward Predatory Gambling.

Few letters of opposition are printed, opposition comments are deleted and reporting is mostly one-sided because they don't want you to know just how bad GAMBLING is for your community.

And so it is with The Republican.

The comment below in response to an article about a political hack's endorsement of the financially insolvent Mohegan Sun's Folly was deleted by The Republican:

Hampden County at its worst. Obviously, the state senate campaign contributions of yore are linked to investors with Northeast Realty and MS, hence the "who cares - has been" endorsement of the proposed Palmer casino.

The central MA casino was a back-room deal all along for billionaire Bob Kraft (Foxboro). Btw, didn't "We The People" pay for some bridge for the billionaire courtesy of the Administration's proposal? http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/emails-show-pressure-for-pats-footbridge-25-apx-20100514 ......read it to the end about the maximum campaign contributions.

Here is a teaser, Mizioch, who met with Kraft representatives about the project, says in a third e-mail 10 days later, "The Krafts want this bridge open prior to next season, so we are looking at a completion of 12/31/2010."

State campaign finance records show the Krafts made $500 maximum political contributions to Patrick and Murray, as well as maximum $5,000 donations to the state Democratic Party, as the project was being reviewed last fall.

There's a perverse irony with the racist expression, "Indian giver" with the Governor's patronizing the Wampanoag tribe. Anyone who has observed Cedric Cromwell's (tribal chairman) business track record (Middleborough-fail; New Bedford-fail) knows that he is not capable of threading the eye of the needle in the legislation to get a step-up on the southeast casino. http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/big_gamble_will_mashpee_wampanoag_survive_casinos/page2

Let's wager who wins a sweet business monopoly.......Cedric Cromwell or billionaire, uber-campaign contributor Bob Kraft?

The Boston back-room deal has always been for Suffolk Downs. Even The Boston Chamber of Commerce leadership, whose members stand to lose economically are in bed with DeLeo and a Suffolk casino.

.... and western Mass, sheesh Beacon Hill players could give a $hit. We have all been played and "We the People" will pay for the "services/costs" of the gambling industry. Btw, (again)....remember who payed for the lovely Gubernatorial inaugural party/ball in Springfield? Yes, the same investors in a certain former state Senator and Northeast Realty who own a transportation company that will reap millions driving seniors to lose their social security checks.

Here's the cherry.....the gambling law gives the Governor $5million and the industry a $20 million dollar interest-free start-up loan from the taxpayer's stabilization fund. How's that for government bias and special interest give-aways? Have you ever gotten an interest-free loan from the government? How many small business owners could benefit from interest-free government loans and how many people could they hire locally to build a robust diverse economy?
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/emails-show-pressure-for-pats-footbridge-25-apx-20100514..
www.myfoxboston.com

Brockton Emptyprise Censors!

In response to an article in the Brockton Enterprise that few read, the comment below was posted:

MiddleboroReview
Big Sigh, matty!

You're a paid casino clown who doesn't even live in this state or this part of the country. You make tooo tooo many factual errors and have no idea what you're talking about - well, other than to repeat 'canned' and scripted casino rhetoric.

Matty, you simply must do better than the fantasy you post. Try a few facts, like that both CT Slot Parlors had to recruit overseas because they were unable to fill the low wage, dead end jobs they offer, causing those low wage workers to resort to 'hot bedding' - a practice that cause folks to be crammed into sub-standard and unsafe housing, sometimes sleeping in shifts in the same bed.

Massachusetts residents are smarter than you are, are learning the facts and who wants a Slot Parlor in their town?

Polling numbers drop precipitously when folks are asked if they want a Slot Parlor near them - 24/7/365 noise, traffic and drunks?

Lincoln, RI voters voted overwhelmingly AGAINST 24/7 operations and got stuck with it via the bankruptcy court - nothing like losing ALL local control with these BIG GAMBLING BUSINESSES!

A recent Boston Globe poll indicated that only 3% of respondents supported slots at tracks.

Job creation? You're just jealous because you're probably sitting in some Las Vegas office watching the numbers of house foreclosures explode and the homeless population overwhelm resources.

The more people learn about the costs and impacts of this predatory industry, the greater opposition grows.

For $600 million, you get 'Slots in a Box,' not some elegant facility as proposed.

90% of 'casino' profits originate from 10% of patrons.

That's Gambling Addiction without which the Industry would not exist.

The Industry itself uses the figure of 6% of the population becoming addicts.

That's 308,000 Massachusetts residents and families who will be harmed.

If a child's toy ONLY injured 6% of the children who played with it, would we consider that reasonable?
Toyota recalled 8 million vehicles because 89 people died.

Those Gambling Addicts increase personal bankruptcies, crime, embezzlements, public safety costs, child abandonment, spousal abuse - all costly to the taxpayer.

A federal study determined that for every $1 in tax revenue provided by gambling, the cost to taxpayers was $3.

The poster children for Casino Gambling are:

Atlantic City --
http://middlebororemembers.blogspot.com/search/label/Atlantic%20City

And Las Vegas --
http://middlebororemembers.blogspot.com/search/label/Las%20Vegas

Former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger wrote about the surrounding issues here:
http://boston.com/community/blogs/upon_reflection/2010/07/before_we_expand_gambling_part.html

And concludes with:

The BOTTOM LINE: My friends, readers, and fellow citizens, in the words of John Gardner (the founder of Common Cause), 'Democracy is NOT a spectator sport!' Now is the time for your voice to be heard. Call on the Governor to stop this dramatic and irreversible expansion of gambling in Massachusetts at least until we understand exactly what the odds are AND what we are betting on!

Please consider some of the information available here:
www.uss-mass.org/

The comment was subsequently removed, surely to create the false illusion that casino opponents are non-existent.

One might wonder where the little Brockton Gremlins are.

Removing anything that appears informed and contains factual information in defense of the Casino Investors?

This is a pervasive practice that allows the few to pretend that the opposition is negligible.

Sorry, little gremlin! The grassroots opposition is growing as more folks figure out what this will cost them.

Below is the post that was removed --

And the post was again replaced.

Upon further consideration, the entry below was posted:

To the Gremlins,

The comment above does not seem to violate your posted policy.

Delete it again and you will leave me no choice other than to blog about it.

Your articles have been clearly one-sided. Pity!

It's widely known that Gambling Interests pay people to post inflammatory comments based on their talking points - zealots and anti-gambling moralists seems to be the phrase du jour.

To have a factual post (composed in response to one of these Shills) deleted simply to reaffirm the one-sided offering of a poor quality newspaper is pretty disappointing.