Another three foreigners arrested for casino-related crimes
Singapore has seen a spate of casino-related crimes committed mostly by foreigners since the Resorts World Sentosa casino was opened in February this year.
The first crime was committed by an Indonesian who stole the handphone of a Singapore student after losing money at the casino.
A month later, two Chinese nationals were fined $1,500 each for using someone else’s credit at a jackpot machine.
Last Saturday, three foreigners were arrested after being caught cheating at the roulette tables of Resorts World Sentosa’s casino, the Straits Times reports today.
They were a Spaniard and two French between the ages of 46 and 64 who almost made off with $13,400 in winnings.
A police spokesman told the media:
“Police do not tolerate any attempt by criminal elements to cheat and carry out criminal activities in the casinos and thereby affecting the safe gaming environment enjoyed by legitimate gamers.”
Resorts World Sentosa has become embroiled in a series of controversies since its opening.
There were questions raised about the number of Singapore citizens it employed as visitors to its casino revealed that most of them are foreigners.
RWS refused to make public the exact percentage of Singaporeans on its payroll except a vague statement that “70 percent” of its staff are “Singapore citizens and PRs.”
Two weeks ago, RWS’s Universal Studios Singapore theme park’s main attraction has to be shut down indefinitely due to a technical glitch found in the Battlestar Galactica roller-coaster ride during an inspection.
A series of concerts by celebrity singer Tom Jones scheduled at RWS were cancelled in the last-minute due to his purported ill-health.
With Marina Sands casino due to open later this month, RWS will have to contend with a strong competitor in a limited gaming market.
Not that all is going well with Las Vegas Sands either. The parent company was mired in debts and almost had to filed for bankruptcy in the midst of the global financial crisis last year.
One of its “person in charge” of a VIP room in Sands Macau Cheung Chi-tai was implicated in a murder plot.
According to testimony in previously undisclosed court transcripts obtained by Reuters, a witness identified Cheung as a leader of the Wo Hop To — one of the organized crime groups in the region known as triads.
The sensational news made international headlines with Reuters, Washington Post and New York Times carrying the story last week.
The two casinos are a brainchild of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong whose political fortunes may now hinge on how well the two perform in the coming months ahead.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Loser-friendly casinos
Loser-friendly casinos
BERNIE MADOFF picked the wrong line of work. Even though his Ponzi scheme eluded investigation for a long time, he would not be sitting in a North Carolina jail today if he had gone into casinos and lotteries — the most effective something-for-nothing scheme ever devised.
What other commercial venture besides a casino makes its money from the heavy financial losses of its clients? What other entity besides the Lottery is exempt from truth-in-advertising laws so it can deceptively dangle the prospect of life-changing riches?
And what other business would still be operating today if its core product was designed to get every user “to play to extinction’’ — until all their money is gone — by using technology that has been labeled a “high-tech version of loaded dice’’? These observations are from research findings of Natasha Schull, associate professor in MIT’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society, who has testified three times before the Legislature.
As a gambling operator, Madoff would have evaded nearly all scrutiny because many well-intentioned people know almost nothing about the business practices behind casinos and lotteries, the “products’’ and “services’’ they offer, or the marketing behind all of it. They do not regularly visit casinos or frequently use the Lottery.
If they did, they would learn that casinos and lotteries are the most predatory business in America today. The business model is based on people who are addicted or heavily in debt, which explains why Harrah’s found that 90 percent of its gambling profits come from the financial losses of 10 percent of its visitors, according to Christina Binkley’s book, “Winner Takes All.’’ Matthew Sweeney, author of “The Lottery Wars,’’ found that in some states 70 percent of lottery sales comes from the financial losses of 10 percent of its users.
To make so much money from so few people, gambling operators rely on such practices as issuing loans to drunk patrons or using casino staff to act as “hosts’’ to lure out-of-control gamblers back into the casino after they have left. The Lottery pushes $20 scratch tickets and speeds up its Keno games to every four minutes so people will lose more money at higher wagering amounts at faster speeds than ever before.
To keep the focus away from the real questions about how their business works, gambling interests have spent $12 million in Massachusetts promoting a fictional “jobs, revenues, and inevitability’’ narrative over the last decade. If every legislator on Beacon Hill was outspent 5 to 1 during his or her campaign, never mind 500 to 1, nearly all of them would lose reelection regardless of their merit. Yet we allow casino operators to tout polling numbers as genuine evidence of public support, despite their incomparable spending advantage. The latest Globe poll showed casinos clinging to support from 52 percent of those polled. In the modern annals of political history, is there any other individual or group that has spent so much for so long with so little to show for it?
Even the prodigious spending of gambling interests, however, cannot hide the most revealing truth of all: this is a product or service that the people who own it and promote it do not use. Nearly every leader of the three constituencies who advocate for casinos and the Lottery — gambling operators, labor union officials, and political officeholders — has publicly acknowledged they rarely lose their own money in casinos or on Lottery tickets.
Yet they still push the “jobs’’ message. Bernie Madoff employed people and he produced a lot of revenue but who believes his kind of phony prosperity is the right direction for our state and for our country? After a decade of housing bubbles and financial speculation, the era of casino capitalism is over.
A vote for casinos is not a vote for jobs. A vote for casinos is a vote for a something-for-nothing scheme that veils the most cut-throat business in the country. But above all else, a vote for casinos is a vote about who we are as a people.
Leslie Bernal is the executive director of Stop Predatory Gambling and a resident of Lawrence.
BERNIE MADOFF picked the wrong line of work. Even though his Ponzi scheme eluded investigation for a long time, he would not be sitting in a North Carolina jail today if he had gone into casinos and lotteries — the most effective something-for-nothing scheme ever devised.
What other commercial venture besides a casino makes its money from the heavy financial losses of its clients? What other entity besides the Lottery is exempt from truth-in-advertising laws so it can deceptively dangle the prospect of life-changing riches?
And what other business would still be operating today if its core product was designed to get every user “to play to extinction’’ — until all their money is gone — by using technology that has been labeled a “high-tech version of loaded dice’’? These observations are from research findings of Natasha Schull, associate professor in MIT’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society, who has testified three times before the Legislature.
As a gambling operator, Madoff would have evaded nearly all scrutiny because many well-intentioned people know almost nothing about the business practices behind casinos and lotteries, the “products’’ and “services’’ they offer, or the marketing behind all of it. They do not regularly visit casinos or frequently use the Lottery.
If they did, they would learn that casinos and lotteries are the most predatory business in America today. The business model is based on people who are addicted or heavily in debt, which explains why Harrah’s found that 90 percent of its gambling profits come from the financial losses of 10 percent of its visitors, according to Christina Binkley’s book, “Winner Takes All.’’ Matthew Sweeney, author of “The Lottery Wars,’’ found that in some states 70 percent of lottery sales comes from the financial losses of 10 percent of its users.
To make so much money from so few people, gambling operators rely on such practices as issuing loans to drunk patrons or using casino staff to act as “hosts’’ to lure out-of-control gamblers back into the casino after they have left. The Lottery pushes $20 scratch tickets and speeds up its Keno games to every four minutes so people will lose more money at higher wagering amounts at faster speeds than ever before.
To keep the focus away from the real questions about how their business works, gambling interests have spent $12 million in Massachusetts promoting a fictional “jobs, revenues, and inevitability’’ narrative over the last decade. If every legislator on Beacon Hill was outspent 5 to 1 during his or her campaign, never mind 500 to 1, nearly all of them would lose reelection regardless of their merit. Yet we allow casino operators to tout polling numbers as genuine evidence of public support, despite their incomparable spending advantage. The latest Globe poll showed casinos clinging to support from 52 percent of those polled. In the modern annals of political history, is there any other individual or group that has spent so much for so long with so little to show for it?
Even the prodigious spending of gambling interests, however, cannot hide the most revealing truth of all: this is a product or service that the people who own it and promote it do not use. Nearly every leader of the three constituencies who advocate for casinos and the Lottery — gambling operators, labor union officials, and political officeholders — has publicly acknowledged they rarely lose their own money in casinos or on Lottery tickets.
Yet they still push the “jobs’’ message. Bernie Madoff employed people and he produced a lot of revenue but who believes his kind of phony prosperity is the right direction for our state and for our country? After a decade of housing bubbles and financial speculation, the era of casino capitalism is over.
A vote for casinos is not a vote for jobs. A vote for casinos is a vote for a something-for-nothing scheme that veils the most cut-throat business in the country. But above all else, a vote for casinos is a vote about who we are as a people.
Leslie Bernal is the executive director of Stop Predatory Gambling and a resident of Lawrence.
$634,250 to feed gambling addiction
The cost of Gambling Addiction is the same everywhere.
Ex-addictions counsellor stole to feed gambling addiction
EDMONTON – An Edmonton judge must now decide whether or not a former high-ranking Alberta civil servant who pilfered $634,000 from the province should be put behind bars.
On Monday, the Crown argued Lloyd Carr - the former executive director in charge of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission’s tobacco reduction unit - should get a prison term of between three and five years.
However, a lawyer for the 46-year-old disgraced bureaucrat, now living in Manitoba, suggested he be given a two-year conditional sentence to be served in the community.
Ironically, the ex-addictions counsellor claims he committed the massive fraud to fuel his gambling addiction.
But, the Crown disputes that and points to a civil trial spawned from a lawsuit against Carr launched by AADAC in which Carr falsely argued he was coerced into stealing the money by then AADAC CEO Murray Finnerty to illegally finance a bid by former Alberta treasurer Jim Dinning for the leadership of the provincial Tories.
Carr pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 on Feb. 19.
According to agreed facts, Carr worked for AADAC from prior to 2001 until
2005 when he was appointed executive director responsible for AADAC’s tobacco reduction unit.
Between 2003 and 2006, AADAC entered into grant agreements with Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and the Alberta Lung Association and payments were made.
However, Carr set up fraudulent contracts for work that was never done to divert the cash from the commission and into his own pockets .
In total, AADAC was defrauded of $634,250. After various payments were made to the Lung Association and a friend of Carr’s who was a go-between for payments, Carr netted $481,413. That money has never been accounted for.
The fraud was discovered after AADAC officials became suspicious of Carr’s behaviour and advised the Auditor General’s office, who began an investigation.
A 2006 report by Alberta Auditor General Fred Dunn detailed the scam and also found Carr had a prior criminal record for theft and did not have a bachelor of social work as he had claimed in his job application.
Court heard the AADAC lawsuit was settled when Carr agreed to pay $375,000 in restitution from the sale of the St. Albert home he owned with this wife.
Crown counsel Greg Lepp argued Carr stole an “enormous amount of money” over a period of years and said the theft was a breach of trust and “motivated by greed.” Lepp also said it was aggravating that Carr “spun a web of lies” about who stole the money and why and used others as pawns to aid him in the theft and to “cover his tracks.” Defence lawyer Daryl Royer said Carr, the father of two teens, has been working as a painter in Swan River and is heavily involved in his church. He noted his guilty plea and the restitution made and said a community-based sentence would allow him to support his family.
Carr told court he accepts responsibility for his actions and is prepared to pay his debt to society.
A sentencing decision is slated for Friday.
Ex-addictions counsellor stole to feed gambling addiction
EDMONTON – An Edmonton judge must now decide whether or not a former high-ranking Alberta civil servant who pilfered $634,000 from the province should be put behind bars.
On Monday, the Crown argued Lloyd Carr - the former executive director in charge of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission’s tobacco reduction unit - should get a prison term of between three and five years.
However, a lawyer for the 46-year-old disgraced bureaucrat, now living in Manitoba, suggested he be given a two-year conditional sentence to be served in the community.
Ironically, the ex-addictions counsellor claims he committed the massive fraud to fuel his gambling addiction.
But, the Crown disputes that and points to a civil trial spawned from a lawsuit against Carr launched by AADAC in which Carr falsely argued he was coerced into stealing the money by then AADAC CEO Murray Finnerty to illegally finance a bid by former Alberta treasurer Jim Dinning for the leadership of the provincial Tories.
Carr pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 on Feb. 19.
According to agreed facts, Carr worked for AADAC from prior to 2001 until
2005 when he was appointed executive director responsible for AADAC’s tobacco reduction unit.
Between 2003 and 2006, AADAC entered into grant agreements with Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and the Alberta Lung Association and payments were made.
However, Carr set up fraudulent contracts for work that was never done to divert the cash from the commission and into his own pockets .
In total, AADAC was defrauded of $634,250. After various payments were made to the Lung Association and a friend of Carr’s who was a go-between for payments, Carr netted $481,413. That money has never been accounted for.
The fraud was discovered after AADAC officials became suspicious of Carr’s behaviour and advised the Auditor General’s office, who began an investigation.
A 2006 report by Alberta Auditor General Fred Dunn detailed the scam and also found Carr had a prior criminal record for theft and did not have a bachelor of social work as he had claimed in his job application.
Court heard the AADAC lawsuit was settled when Carr agreed to pay $375,000 in restitution from the sale of the St. Albert home he owned with this wife.
Crown counsel Greg Lepp argued Carr stole an “enormous amount of money” over a period of years and said the theft was a breach of trust and “motivated by greed.” Lepp also said it was aggravating that Carr “spun a web of lies” about who stole the money and why and used others as pawns to aid him in the theft and to “cover his tracks.” Defence lawyer Daryl Royer said Carr, the father of two teens, has been working as a painter in Swan River and is heavily involved in his church. He noted his guilty plea and the restitution made and said a community-based sentence would allow him to support his family.
Carr told court he accepts responsibility for his actions and is prepared to pay his debt to society.
A sentencing decision is slated for Friday.
Gaming bill poses risk, high costs
Brian Watson: Gaming bill poses risk, high costs
The proposal to build two casinos somewhere in Massachusetts and install 3,000 slot machines at the state's four racetracks, would fold quicker than a pair of twos in a back-room poker game if it were subject to the kind of scrutiny and analysis it should be receiving. But House Speaker Robert DeLeo and the track owners, casino developers and lobbyists who favor this proposal will try to get the legislation passed this week.
Proponents of the gambling bill have touted the recent report by the Spectrum Gaming Group, which outlines the anticipated revenues that could come from the new casinos and slot machines. The state would receive licensing fees and a yearly percentage of the casino and slot winnings.
But nowhere in the 78-page document are there estimates for the costs to the state and its taxpayers that would accompany legal gambling. There is indeed a substantial financial downside to the proposal that supporters of the legislation have refused to tally.
The experiences of other states with casinos also show that the costs increase over the years while revenues decline. The licensing fees, for example, are one-time, one-year, gains. And invariably, after a few years, casino owners renegotiate sweeter deals for themselves, with smaller revenue percentages for the state.
Meanwhile, as costs associated with problem gambling expand over time, the state is left to address them. Gambling can cause some degree of hardship or disruption in up to 30 percent of players, and these problems spill into society in many costly ways.
The worst cases — addicted gamblers — lose their jobs; destroy their families; default on loans, bills, and credit cards; and steal and commit crimes. Their actual financial burden on the taxpayers is significant. You and I pay for the extra costs that they place on financial institutions, insurance companies, the medical system, law enforcement agencies, the court system, social service agencies, and the prison system.
In milder cases, where poor people simply gamble away their paychecks, society pays in subtler ways. First, there are the losses to the gamblers themselves. Their money won't be used to support more constructive endeavors in their own lives that would have a much bigger economic multiplier effect for the growth and productivity of society as a whole.
Secondly, other members of their families then often need financial assistance and other help to compensate for the lack of family savings and resources simply to pursue normal, educated, productive lives.
Want numbers? If we end up with roughly 40,000 problem gamblers (or families) every year, each of whom requires an average of $10,000 in state services — ranging from brief counseling to full incarceration — that would total $400 million a year in costs, which is exactly the average annual revenue that the state would receive from the casinos and slots.
Furthermore, the casinos and racetracks themselves require oversight and regulation. Hundreds of new state officials would be added to the Attorney General's office, the State Police, and to a new "Gaming Commission." Incredibly, an entire new prison could become necessary.
Add all the costs together, and the gambling legislation is a money-loser for the commonwealth. Not in the first few years, to be sure, but for all the years thereafter.
Speaker DeLeo is fond of saying that this is a jobs bill. I say let's take the more than $400 million that casinos and slots would cost the state every year and use it to build jobs programs that are much more constructive and economically productive.
Brian T. Watson of Swampscott is a regular Salem News columnist.
The proposal to build two casinos somewhere in Massachusetts and install 3,000 slot machines at the state's four racetracks, would fold quicker than a pair of twos in a back-room poker game if it were subject to the kind of scrutiny and analysis it should be receiving. But House Speaker Robert DeLeo and the track owners, casino developers and lobbyists who favor this proposal will try to get the legislation passed this week.
Proponents of the gambling bill have touted the recent report by the Spectrum Gaming Group, which outlines the anticipated revenues that could come from the new casinos and slot machines. The state would receive licensing fees and a yearly percentage of the casino and slot winnings.
But nowhere in the 78-page document are there estimates for the costs to the state and its taxpayers that would accompany legal gambling. There is indeed a substantial financial downside to the proposal that supporters of the legislation have refused to tally.
The experiences of other states with casinos also show that the costs increase over the years while revenues decline. The licensing fees, for example, are one-time, one-year, gains. And invariably, after a few years, casino owners renegotiate sweeter deals for themselves, with smaller revenue percentages for the state.
Meanwhile, as costs associated with problem gambling expand over time, the state is left to address them. Gambling can cause some degree of hardship or disruption in up to 30 percent of players, and these problems spill into society in many costly ways.
The worst cases — addicted gamblers — lose their jobs; destroy their families; default on loans, bills, and credit cards; and steal and commit crimes. Their actual financial burden on the taxpayers is significant. You and I pay for the extra costs that they place on financial institutions, insurance companies, the medical system, law enforcement agencies, the court system, social service agencies, and the prison system.
In milder cases, where poor people simply gamble away their paychecks, society pays in subtler ways. First, there are the losses to the gamblers themselves. Their money won't be used to support more constructive endeavors in their own lives that would have a much bigger economic multiplier effect for the growth and productivity of society as a whole.
Secondly, other members of their families then often need financial assistance and other help to compensate for the lack of family savings and resources simply to pursue normal, educated, productive lives.
Want numbers? If we end up with roughly 40,000 problem gamblers (or families) every year, each of whom requires an average of $10,000 in state services — ranging from brief counseling to full incarceration — that would total $400 million a year in costs, which is exactly the average annual revenue that the state would receive from the casinos and slots.
Furthermore, the casinos and racetracks themselves require oversight and regulation. Hundreds of new state officials would be added to the Attorney General's office, the State Police, and to a new "Gaming Commission." Incredibly, an entire new prison could become necessary.
Add all the costs together, and the gambling legislation is a money-loser for the commonwealth. Not in the first few years, to be sure, but for all the years thereafter.
Speaker DeLeo is fond of saying that this is a jobs bill. I say let's take the more than $400 million that casinos and slots would cost the state every year and use it to build jobs programs that are much more constructive and economically productive.
Brian T. Watson of Swampscott is a regular Salem News columnist.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Atlantic City Casino Gambling Revenue Down In March
Atlantic City Casino Gambling Revenue Down In March
The Atlantic City casino industry simply cannot afford to have many more months like the past few. This week, more bad news was delivered when revenue figures for March revealed a 5.6% decrease from the same period in 2009.
Table games at the city's casinos took the biggest hit, dropping 6.8%, to $207.3 million. Slot revenue for AC casinos was down to $207.3 million, a drop of five percent. The total revenue for the casinos was $300.8 million.
Although the news brought declining revenue, it was not as bad as the past year. Over the past year, Atlantic City casinos have experienced double digits declines in revenue many times. The single digit decline represented hope at several casinos.
"I feel pretty darn good," said Don Marrandino, Eastern Division President of Harrah's Entertainment. "i think we're turning the corner here." That optimism could be found in several of the casinos, but some believe that AC still has a long way to go."
"The fact that their not dropping as much as in the past is a good thing, but it certainly does not mean that casinos in Atlantic City can exhale," said Gaming Analyst Steve Schwartz. "The competition in the Northeast is becoming fierce, and all states have their eyes on toppling the New jersey casino industry."
One of those states is Pennsylvania where casinos had higher slot revenue than AC casinos for the first time ever in December. Pennsylvania lawmakers also upped the ante earlier this year when they legalized table games for casinos in the state.
The Atlantic City casino industry simply cannot afford to have many more months like the past few. This week, more bad news was delivered when revenue figures for March revealed a 5.6% decrease from the same period in 2009.
Table games at the city's casinos took the biggest hit, dropping 6.8%, to $207.3 million. Slot revenue for AC casinos was down to $207.3 million, a drop of five percent. The total revenue for the casinos was $300.8 million.
Although the news brought declining revenue, it was not as bad as the past year. Over the past year, Atlantic City casinos have experienced double digits declines in revenue many times. The single digit decline represented hope at several casinos.
"I feel pretty darn good," said Don Marrandino, Eastern Division President of Harrah's Entertainment. "i think we're turning the corner here." That optimism could be found in several of the casinos, but some believe that AC still has a long way to go."
"The fact that their not dropping as much as in the past is a good thing, but it certainly does not mean that casinos in Atlantic City can exhale," said Gaming Analyst Steve Schwartz. "The competition in the Northeast is becoming fierce, and all states have their eyes on toppling the New jersey casino industry."
One of those states is Pennsylvania where casinos had higher slot revenue than AC casinos for the first time ever in December. Pennsylvania lawmakers also upped the ante earlier this year when they legalized table games for casinos in the state.
What’s the big hurry?
What’s the big hurry?
By Scott Harshbarger and Michael Dukakis
WHEN PEOPLE on Beacon Hill are in a hurry to get something done, watch out! This is what is happening now, as the state House of Representatives careens toward approving expanded casino and slots gambling.
Opponents like us — while at a distinct disadvantage against well-heeled lobbyists for the gambling industry — are willing to accept a loss after legitimate debate on the merits. Unfortunately, casino backers have chosen to take the path of secrecy, silence, and expedience. The complex, 172-page bill released last week has seen two committee votes with no public hearing or debate. Legislators, 108 of whom voted down a similar bill in the last session, now face a choice.
What’s the big hurry?
All the major warning signs that persuaded the Legislature to defeat casino and slot bills in 2002, 2003, and 2006, each year by a larger margin, still exist.
First, we are told that this is a jobs bill. But the facts tell a different story.
The three states with the highest unemployment rates in the nation are Michigan, Nevada, and Rhode Island, all home to casinos or racinos. With decreased earnings, fewer gamblers, and limited casino borrowing, layoffs are hitting their casinos.
The number of jobs the proposed legislation would create has been wildly exaggerated. We are told that two casinos and four racinos will net about 16,000 construction and permanent jobs. But in Indiana it takes 10 riverboats, one casino and two racinos to generate 16,000 current jobs and Louisiana requires 18 casinos to employ 17,268, according to the American Gaming Association.
The states that most closely mirror the current legislation suggest that the real results will be but a fraction of the job estimates we have been hearing. Michigan’s three casinos net 8,568 permanent jobs and New Mexico’s five racinos employ less than 2,000 people.
After jobs, the argument for casinos is that they provide a new state revenue stream. But the numbers don’t add up.
Commonwealth Magazine reported that in order to reach the revenue estimates when the bill was unveiled — of between $1.4 billion and $1.9 billion — somewhere between $5.6 billion and $7.2 billion must be bet and lost at the two proposed casinos every year.
In Las Vegas, it takes 266 casinos to bring in $11.6 billion in gross revenue, which translates into $924 million in tax revenue. Even the $300 million to $600 million now estimated here is a stretch based on that data.
The list of questions based on the experience of other states about the costs — fiscal, economic, social, and human — only grows from there.
That is why we and others have argued for a full cost-benefit analysis before the House votes. That seems like a common sense thing to do on an issue this important and the governor agrees.
Let’s hope this cost-benefit analysis includes a detailed study of the millions of dollars in Lottery revenue that will be lost to casinos, all of which now goes to the cities and towns to try to keep property taxes under control; the significant, unmeasured law enforcement and public protection costs involved; and the estimated 100,000 gambling addicts that will emerge and the appalling costs to families and communities that they will bring with them.
It may be that gambling proponents have the votes. But if we are to make the mistake to usher in the casino culture in the Commonwealth, let’s at least do it openly, with a sound, independent analysis of its true costs, thorough public hearings, and an informed debate in the full light of day.
Scott Harshbarger, former attorney general of Massachusetts, is senior counsel at Proskauer. Michael Dukakis, former governor of Massachusetts, is a professor at Northeastern University.
By Scott Harshbarger and Michael Dukakis
WHEN PEOPLE on Beacon Hill are in a hurry to get something done, watch out! This is what is happening now, as the state House of Representatives careens toward approving expanded casino and slots gambling.
Opponents like us — while at a distinct disadvantage against well-heeled lobbyists for the gambling industry — are willing to accept a loss after legitimate debate on the merits. Unfortunately, casino backers have chosen to take the path of secrecy, silence, and expedience. The complex, 172-page bill released last week has seen two committee votes with no public hearing or debate. Legislators, 108 of whom voted down a similar bill in the last session, now face a choice.
What’s the big hurry?
All the major warning signs that persuaded the Legislature to defeat casino and slot bills in 2002, 2003, and 2006, each year by a larger margin, still exist.
First, we are told that this is a jobs bill. But the facts tell a different story.
The three states with the highest unemployment rates in the nation are Michigan, Nevada, and Rhode Island, all home to casinos or racinos. With decreased earnings, fewer gamblers, and limited casino borrowing, layoffs are hitting their casinos.
The number of jobs the proposed legislation would create has been wildly exaggerated. We are told that two casinos and four racinos will net about 16,000 construction and permanent jobs. But in Indiana it takes 10 riverboats, one casino and two racinos to generate 16,000 current jobs and Louisiana requires 18 casinos to employ 17,268, according to the American Gaming Association.
The states that most closely mirror the current legislation suggest that the real results will be but a fraction of the job estimates we have been hearing. Michigan’s three casinos net 8,568 permanent jobs and New Mexico’s five racinos employ less than 2,000 people.
After jobs, the argument for casinos is that they provide a new state revenue stream. But the numbers don’t add up.
Commonwealth Magazine reported that in order to reach the revenue estimates when the bill was unveiled — of between $1.4 billion and $1.9 billion — somewhere between $5.6 billion and $7.2 billion must be bet and lost at the two proposed casinos every year.
In Las Vegas, it takes 266 casinos to bring in $11.6 billion in gross revenue, which translates into $924 million in tax revenue. Even the $300 million to $600 million now estimated here is a stretch based on that data.
The list of questions based on the experience of other states about the costs — fiscal, economic, social, and human — only grows from there.
That is why we and others have argued for a full cost-benefit analysis before the House votes. That seems like a common sense thing to do on an issue this important and the governor agrees.
Let’s hope this cost-benefit analysis includes a detailed study of the millions of dollars in Lottery revenue that will be lost to casinos, all of which now goes to the cities and towns to try to keep property taxes under control; the significant, unmeasured law enforcement and public protection costs involved; and the estimated 100,000 gambling addicts that will emerge and the appalling costs to families and communities that they will bring with them.
It may be that gambling proponents have the votes. But if we are to make the mistake to usher in the casino culture in the Commonwealth, let’s at least do it openly, with a sound, independent analysis of its true costs, thorough public hearings, and an informed debate in the full light of day.
Scott Harshbarger, former attorney general of Massachusetts, is senior counsel at Proskauer. Michael Dukakis, former governor of Massachusetts, is a professor at Northeastern University.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Plentiful Low Wage Jobs Offered in CT Force Hot Bedding
The Spectrum Report is available in its entirety on the United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts web site.
The proposal crafted behind closed doors by Speaker "Racino" DeLeo lays the groundwork for plentiful low wage, dead end jobs, just as Mohegan Sun offered in CT that forced workers to accept substandard housing.
(Please note that Spectrum was only asked to consider communities within a 10 mile radius. The impacts on the state are far greater than that.)
Mohegan Sun in hot pursuit of a casino in Palmer, says anything that sounds good.
Consider their performance in Connecticut -
plentiful low wage jobs!
Page 14
Substandard housing, illegal conversions –– casino workers
With many casino workers
unable to afford housing
in southeastern Connecticut, some landlords have converted single-family homes into boarding facilities. The practice is not only illegal, it is unsafe as well.
CT: Increased taxpayer costs
The Spectrum Report is available in its entirety on the United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts web site.
The proposal crafted behind closed doors by Speaker "Racino" DeLeo lays the groundwork for Massachusetts taxpayers to pick up the tab for gambling investors, just as CT taxpayers have done.
(Please note that Spectrum was only asked to consider communities within a 10 mile radius. The impacts on the state are far greater than that.)
From:
Page 13
Some of the perimeter municipalities have documented impacts such as increased traffic accidents, DUI arrests and the need for special programs to help non-English speaking students learn the English language.
In recent years, the General Assembly increased the compensation to some of the perimeter municipalities, but local officials say it is not nearly enough, and the level of funding often depends on the state‘s fiscal health.
Norwich, the largest municipality in the region, is coping with a number of problems. It is located within eight miles of both casinos.
DUI arrests have more than doubled since 1992.
In hot pursuit of a Casino in Palmer, this is what they now claim:
Hartmann said the Mohegan Sun trains employees to stop serving alcohol to customers who drink too much, and is committed to working with local police to eliminate drunken driving, he said.
Rhetoric must mean a lot to those killed by drunken drivers.Montville and Ledyard have also experienced significant increases.
Roughly 20 percent of the motorists in Montville, Ledyard and North Stonington arrested for DUI acknowledged to police that their last drink was at a casino.
One such motorist was charged with manslaughter in March 2009 for allegedly causing a fatal accident by driving the wrong way on I-395.
Norwich Public School administrators identified on a yearly basis nearly $2 million in casino-related costs. In order to handle the influx of immigrant workers attracted to casino jobs, the district had to create English for Speakers of Other Languages ("ESOL") program because students speak nearly 30 different languages. They come from Haiti, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Eastern Europe.
In addition, thousands of Chinese-speaking workers were recruited from New York City in late 2001 to work at the casinos.
This is what they now claim:
Jeffrey E. Hartmann, chief operating officer of the Mohegan Sun, said he was confident that the proposed Palmer casino would hire all its employees from Palmer and Greater Springfield. Hartmann said the Mohegan Sun needed to look outside Connecticut to hire workers because the economy was strong and there was a shortage of labor.
Hatmann doesn't tell you that these are low wage dead end jobs that don't provide a living wage.
Norwich Public Schools reported the following to us:
In 1999, it enrolled 40 ESOL students. Today, the figure stands at nearly 400.
About half of the ESOL students are proficient in math; less than a third in reading.
The district, as of the 2008-2009 school year, operates two bilingual programs – one in Spanish and another in Haitian Creole. It may soon have to offer a third program in Mandarin Chinese.
Budgets cuts forced the district to eliminate a full-day kindergarten program, close an elementary school and use outdated textbooks.
The City of Norwich copes with significant impacts as well. City officials estimate casino-related costs to be anywhere from $1 million to $2.5 million a year. They include:
A 27 percent increase in motor vehicle accidents from 1991 to 2004.
An increase in police overtime from $85,000 in 1991 to more than $280,000 in 2008.
A 76 percent increase in calls for service from people needing the assistance of the police from 1992 to 2004.
Other area municipalities and school districts have sustained similar impacts but not to the same extent as Norwich.
They include:
Norwich Free Academy (Norwich‘s public high school):
Its current ESOL enrollment is nearly 200, seven times the 1993 figure.
Ledyard Public Schools:
Educates children who live on the Mashantucket Pequot reservation yet receives no property taxes from families who live on land within the reservation because the Tribe is a sovereign nation.
Montville Public Schools:
Expending more resources to educate Chinese-speaking students. The number was 54 in 1994; 183 in 2007.
Automobile and pedestrian accidents:
Three casino workers walking to Mohegan Sun have been killed in car accidents in the past 16 months, the last of which was a hit and
Page 14
run that occurred on April 14, 2008. The motorist was charged in early 2009 with manslaughter. Mohegan Sun has spent $2 million to erect sidewalks and install lighting along a portion of Route 32 to cut down on the accidents.
Spectrum Gaming: CT Report
The Spectrum Report is available in its entirety on the United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts web site.
The slap dash proposal presented by Speaker "Racino" DeLeo lays the groundwork for Massachusetts taxpayers to pick up the tab for gambling investors, just as CT taxpayers have done.
From:
Page 11
Are taxpayers picking up part of the tab for casino regulatory costs?
The agreements negotiated with the Indian tribes require them to pay for all "reasonable
and necessary" regulatory costs. That money is in addition to the 25 percent contribution on gross slot win. At issue is whether the state can recover its indirect costs.
State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal issued an opinion in 1998 that said the state
could and should recover all of its indirect costs. Blumenthal concluded that ―proper and accepted accounting practices‖ require that such costs be recovered.
Yet, despite the opinion, the state has – according to information provided to us in the
course of this research – failed to collect all of those costs, putting Connecticut taxpayers in the position of paying for a portion of regulatory costs, something that was not supposed to occur based on the agreements negotiated with the tribes.
At our request, the state Office of Policy and Management provided us with budget data
for the regulatory agencies from the 2004 to 2008 fiscal years. It shows that the state sustained deficits totaling nearly $16 million during that period – $8.6 million at Mohegan Sun and $7.3 million at Foxwoods.
Casinos: Bad for Communities
Letter to the Editor:
I am writing you in opposition to proposed gambling casinos in western Massachusetts.
Because I have had firsthand experience living with casinos for 24 years near Atlantic City, I have a clear understanding of the damage they can do to local communities.
In New Jersey, I worked in the public schools and then as a family therapist, and as I watched the new housing developments chew through the surrounding woods, in my office I heard the stories of the social impacts of casino work.
Casinos are very enticing at the outset and a pretty easy sell for the lobbyists who visit lawmakers. Flashy new buildings are outlined, numbers of building tradesmen employed and numbers of new jobs created are displayed in graphs and pictures. Dollars generated climb to the ceiling. During a recession, or even during good times, how could anyone vote against this rosy picture? Everybody agrees that casinos temporarily boost local economies with construction work, but no one would dwell on the disappearance of those jobs once construction stops. In addition, no one can guarantee that local residents will even benefit from new construction, since contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, invariably a large corporation. In the case of Atlantic City, workers came from as far away as West Virginia.
This is how casino development will work here: In the beginning, western Massachusetts residents will have high expectations of a thrilling new economic jolt, which will be followed by shock that expected profits don’t flow to the region (they flow to casino owners), leading to resentment and anger that the promised new local economy never arrives. Just as it is for an alcoholic, the first drink gives the drinker a high, then the depressant nature of alcohol takes over.
For casinos, the longterm, permanent effects become clear when the casino opens. First, local small businesses close — restaurants, diners, cafes, small gift shops, small motels, bars. Not only do casinos have plenty of food, drink and gift items available in their buildings, they actively work to keep gamblers from leaving the premises. In the dark confines of a casino, there is no outside world because a gambler who leaves is $100 lost to the casino. Casinos offer lots of entertainment and “comp” tickets to lure the public in. There go local and regional theaters, small music venues, etc.
The most profound effects, however, are on family life. Casinos run on shift work, even if they aren’t open 24 hours a day. Young people or young families, most with no higher education credentials, take these jobs, and often both spouses work in casinos to afford a lifestyle that a single casino wage earner can’t support.
We should all be aware that most of the dealer and wait staff jobs in casinos pay minimum wage or just above, and workers are dependent on tips to make a living wage. Married casino employees work different shifts, so they rarely see each other awake. If they have children, they have little opportunity to talk about their kids’ school, illnesses or anything of concern, as they meet in the driveway each day. Casinos penalize workers who use their sick days to tend to children’s doctor appointments. If a worker takes too many sick days, he or she gets laid off, can no longer afford mortgage or other payments, and the family begins a downhill slide.
Finally, there’s the cost to communities. As the rates of gambling dependency and alcoholism rise, local towns need more police presence and extensive social services for addictions.
In New Jersey, I watched a small, stable, if somewhat struggling, area — like Palmer in western Massachusetts — turn into a bedroom community of shift-working households with high transiency, huge increases in traffic, closed and shuttered local businesses and households under stress. It was a sad place to live. There was no sense of community or cohesiveness or dedication to improving the local area. There were few small businesses left to support activities in the local towns, so the fabric of the towns disintegrated.
Is this what we want for our region?
Wendy Sinton
Florence
I am writing you in opposition to proposed gambling casinos in western Massachusetts.
Because I have had firsthand experience living with casinos for 24 years near Atlantic City, I have a clear understanding of the damage they can do to local communities.
In New Jersey, I worked in the public schools and then as a family therapist, and as I watched the new housing developments chew through the surrounding woods, in my office I heard the stories of the social impacts of casino work.
Casinos are very enticing at the outset and a pretty easy sell for the lobbyists who visit lawmakers. Flashy new buildings are outlined, numbers of building tradesmen employed and numbers of new jobs created are displayed in graphs and pictures. Dollars generated climb to the ceiling. During a recession, or even during good times, how could anyone vote against this rosy picture? Everybody agrees that casinos temporarily boost local economies with construction work, but no one would dwell on the disappearance of those jobs once construction stops. In addition, no one can guarantee that local residents will even benefit from new construction, since contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, invariably a large corporation. In the case of Atlantic City, workers came from as far away as West Virginia.
This is how casino development will work here: In the beginning, western Massachusetts residents will have high expectations of a thrilling new economic jolt, which will be followed by shock that expected profits don’t flow to the region (they flow to casino owners), leading to resentment and anger that the promised new local economy never arrives. Just as it is for an alcoholic, the first drink gives the drinker a high, then the depressant nature of alcohol takes over.
For casinos, the longterm, permanent effects become clear when the casino opens. First, local small businesses close — restaurants, diners, cafes, small gift shops, small motels, bars. Not only do casinos have plenty of food, drink and gift items available in their buildings, they actively work to keep gamblers from leaving the premises. In the dark confines of a casino, there is no outside world because a gambler who leaves is $100 lost to the casino. Casinos offer lots of entertainment and “comp” tickets to lure the public in. There go local and regional theaters, small music venues, etc.
The most profound effects, however, are on family life. Casinos run on shift work, even if they aren’t open 24 hours a day. Young people or young families, most with no higher education credentials, take these jobs, and often both spouses work in casinos to afford a lifestyle that a single casino wage earner can’t support.
We should all be aware that most of the dealer and wait staff jobs in casinos pay minimum wage or just above, and workers are dependent on tips to make a living wage. Married casino employees work different shifts, so they rarely see each other awake. If they have children, they have little opportunity to talk about their kids’ school, illnesses or anything of concern, as they meet in the driveway each day. Casinos penalize workers who use their sick days to tend to children’s doctor appointments. If a worker takes too many sick days, he or she gets laid off, can no longer afford mortgage or other payments, and the family begins a downhill slide.
Finally, there’s the cost to communities. As the rates of gambling dependency and alcoholism rise, local towns need more police presence and extensive social services for addictions.
In New Jersey, I watched a small, stable, if somewhat struggling, area — like Palmer in western Massachusetts — turn into a bedroom community of shift-working households with high transiency, huge increases in traffic, closed and shuttered local businesses and households under stress. It was a sad place to live. There was no sense of community or cohesiveness or dedication to improving the local area. There were few small businesses left to support activities in the local towns, so the fabric of the towns disintegrated.
Is this what we want for our region?
Wendy Sinton
Florence
Embezzlements Increase With Gambling Addiction
Gambling addictions blamed for "steady trend" of embezzling
ST. LOUIS (KMOX) -- The U-S Attorney's office is warning employers to set up safeguards against embezzlement, after the secretary-treasurer of a labor union is sentenced for stealing money to support her gambling habit.
Sherell Mitchell was sentenced to six-months home detention, five years probation and 200 hours of community service. She must also make restitution. The 45-year old pleaded guilty to embezzling more that $110,000 from the Communications Workers Union local 86823.
"Just because somebody looks trustworthy doesn't mean they are," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Albus.
Albus says Mitchell claimed to have suffered from a gambling addiction since 1990 and by 2002 was gambling "on a daily basis."
"She indicated that her preferred form of gambling was slot machines," Albus said, "And she used the proceeds of her embezzlement to pay for her addiction."
In her guilty plea, Mitchell admitted writing out checks to herself and withdrawing cash from the union's account. Over a seven year period, Mitchell wrote $58,000 worth of checks and withdrew $51,000 in cash to gamble in sprees of sometimes $300 to $400 dollars a day, Albus said.
The case represents what Albus says is a "steady trend" of gambling-related embezzlement here.
"On an almost monthly basis we will see normal people -- whatever that means -- church-going, family people that have hobbies and interests just like I do and they're robbing their employer's blind," Albus said.
One recent case involved an elderly Montgomery County woman caught stealing money from a school district to fuel her gambling habit.
"She was a little old lady who was a secretary in Wellsville-Middletown school district , and just as nice-- and a kind of understated lady, about 65 years old -- as you would ever want.
"And she robbed a 100-thousand, 200-hundred thousand bucks from this very small school district out in Montgomery County, and it all went to the gambling boat out in Booneville."
The U-S Attorneys office is warning employers to invest in an internal audit and set up the checks-and-balances to guard against embezzlement.
As part of her plea agreement, Mitchell made a $50,000 lump sum payment toward the restitution amount and must pay the remainder of the restitution over the course of her term of probation.
ST. LOUIS (KMOX) -- The U-S Attorney's office is warning employers to set up safeguards against embezzlement, after the secretary-treasurer of a labor union is sentenced for stealing money to support her gambling habit.
Sherell Mitchell was sentenced to six-months home detention, five years probation and 200 hours of community service. She must also make restitution. The 45-year old pleaded guilty to embezzling more that $110,000 from the Communications Workers Union local 86823.
"Just because somebody looks trustworthy doesn't mean they are," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Albus.
Albus says Mitchell claimed to have suffered from a gambling addiction since 1990 and by 2002 was gambling "on a daily basis."
"She indicated that her preferred form of gambling was slot machines," Albus said, "And she used the proceeds of her embezzlement to pay for her addiction."
In her guilty plea, Mitchell admitted writing out checks to herself and withdrawing cash from the union's account. Over a seven year period, Mitchell wrote $58,000 worth of checks and withdrew $51,000 in cash to gamble in sprees of sometimes $300 to $400 dollars a day, Albus said.
The case represents what Albus says is a "steady trend" of gambling-related embezzlement here.
"On an almost monthly basis we will see normal people -- whatever that means -- church-going, family people that have hobbies and interests just like I do and they're robbing their employer's blind," Albus said.
One recent case involved an elderly Montgomery County woman caught stealing money from a school district to fuel her gambling habit.
"She was a little old lady who was a secretary in Wellsville-Middletown school district , and just as nice-- and a kind of understated lady, about 65 years old -- as you would ever want.
"And she robbed a 100-thousand, 200-hundred thousand bucks from this very small school district out in Montgomery County, and it all went to the gambling boat out in Booneville."
The U-S Attorneys office is warning employers to invest in an internal audit and set up the checks-and-balances to guard against embezzlement.
As part of her plea agreement, Mitchell made a $50,000 lump sum payment toward the restitution amount and must pay the remainder of the restitution over the course of her term of probation.
Steve Wynn chased from Philly! Bravo!
Steve Wynn, who has spent his life building absurd monuments to his ego and self-indulgence and contributing nothing of value, saw his wealth plummet and has been chased from Philadelphia by our friends from Casino-Free Philadelphia,
The Philly Daily News is calling it the final nail in the coffin -- and you're the hammer!
Today, so-called superhero Steve Wynn pulled out of his "binding" deal with the proposed Foxwoods casino.
We've added another success to a long list of victories that have come from all the hard work, imagination and hope of anti-casino citizens of Philadelphia and beyond. This is your success!
It's not clear what this means in the long term, but today it proves -- once again -- that there's no such thing as a done deal. No matter what Rendell, Nutter and DiCicco want you to believe, we, the people, are can make change and be victorious.
To keep pushing and make sure Foxwoods is completely dead -- and SugarHouse goes bankrupt -- we need volunteers, support and funding.
The Philly Daily News is calling it the final nail in the coffin -- and you're the hammer!
Today, so-called superhero Steve Wynn pulled out of his "binding" deal with the proposed Foxwoods casino.
We've added another success to a long list of victories that have come from all the hard work, imagination and hope of anti-casino citizens of Philadelphia and beyond. This is your success!
It's not clear what this means in the long term, but today it proves -- once again -- that there's no such thing as a done deal. No matter what Rendell, Nutter and DiCicco want you to believe, we, the people, are can make change and be victorious.
To keep pushing and make sure Foxwoods is completely dead -- and SugarHouse goes bankrupt -- we need volunteers, support and funding.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Regulators investigating Sands and MGM
Behind closed doors, Beacon Hill has crafted slot legislation wrapped with a Crime Bill and denied public input.
DeLeo's fantasy is cloaked in false promises lacking facts, overstated revenues and jobs, without basic protections for Massachusetts taxpayers.
Situations, such as those below, are among those issues that Beacon Hill has ignored in their willingness to be dazzled by false promises:
Nevada to investigate Sands casino activity in Macau
Nevada's Gaming Control Board said it was analyzing possible links between Las Vegas Sands casinos in Macau and Chinese criminal elements. "At the conclusion of our analysis of the situation in its entirety, this agency will move appropriately as governed by Nevada law and standards required of our Nevada licenses," said Randall Sayre, a member of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Meanwhile, Illinois regulators are investigating MGM Mirage for its Macau operations as well.
Organized Crime, Las Vegas Sands and the Sheldon Adelson Connection
MGM and Sands
Beacon Hill
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Speaker Flunks Arithmetic
Maybe this is why an Independent Cost Benefit Analysis is needed?
NEW GAMBLING REGULATION TO COST $5 MILLION, ACCORDING TO SPEAKER’S OFFICE: The expanded gambling market called for under legislation proposed by Speaker Robert DeLeo would require $5 million in costs to cover new state regulatory and enforcement expenses, but the industry would pick up the tab, according to a DeLeo aide.
NEW GAMBLING REGULATION TO COST $5 MILLION, ACCORDING TO SPEAKER’S OFFICE: The expanded gambling market called for under legislation proposed by Speaker Robert DeLeo would require $5 million in costs to cover new state regulatory and enforcement expenses, but the industry would pick up the tab, according to a DeLeo aide.
DeLeo spokesman Seth Gitell said the estimate of state costs the gambling industry would reimburse is $5 million.
The bill creates a five-member Massachusetts Gaming Commission to oversee the expanded industry, establishes a Division of Gaming Enforcement in the attorney general's office to work with the gaming commission to enforce criminal violations of gaming laws; creates a gaming enforcement unit within the State Police; and establishes new crimes of money laundering and enterprise crime in connection with industry expansion.
The Racing Commission costs ~ $4.4 million supervising 4 tracks, 2 of which no longer have live racing.
Speaker "Racino" DeLeo would have us believe that adding 3 24/7 365 casinos and converting 4 race tracks into 24/7 365 slot parlors, adding 3 enforcement agencies will only cost an additional $600,000? Or does he mean that taxpayers will pick up the rest of the tab?
Beacon Hill Malady: Unknown Cause
House Speaker "Racino" DeLeo unveiled his long awaited secret gambling legislation proposing two casinos, except it's really three casinos [see images below].
But since there are really 2 "Recognized Tribes" and 6 Tribes that have applied for Recognition, maybe it's really TEN? It's a good thing Spectrum didn't confuse the already confused Speaker with more numbers!
DeLeo seemed confused that he met with 'opponents,' yet when asked to name them, ........ he just drooled. There are simply too too many lobbyists to worry about those opponents who are all nameless anyway. After all, they're just voters who don't stroke his ego and make endless promises of riches.
DeLeo seemed confused that he met with 'opponents,' yet when asked to name them, ........ he just drooled. There are simply too too many lobbyists to worry about those opponents who are all nameless anyway. After all, they're just voters who don't stroke his ego and make endless promises of riches.
And besides, opponents tell depressing tales like Gladys, local impacts, crime, addiction, effects on children, effects on families, effects on local business, organized crime, and facts.
DeLeo, who has been crafting the legislation for months [behind closed doors with lobbyists and the Industry], said lawmakers have already held two public hearings on other gambling bills this session .... When?Did House Speaker Racino DeLeo forget?
One of those Public Hearings was a one-sided Love Fest orchestrated by Senator Spilka, choreographed by the Speaker?
The most recent farce .....
A special commission would determine where the casinos go. [While DeLeo would promise anything behind closed door to get the needed votes, for those like ....
State Rep. Stephen Canessa, D-New Bedford, said he hoped Southeastern Massachusetts would be selected to host one of the resort casinos. But if Boston and a site in western Massachusetts are awarded license, he might reconsider his vote. "Boston gets enough. They don't need another resort attraction," he said.....
That "Commission" sure faked you out, huh, Steve?
With the land he owns along Interstate 495, Carney said, he has enough space to develop a nine-hole golf course, or he could partner with or buy an 18-hole course.
Wow! Even though there are golf courses galour being eliminated, going bankrupt, being turned into subdivision...Wow!
“Two hundred million dollars is a very big thing in the town of Raynham,” selectmen Chairman Don McKinnon said. “I have no idea how much of that would be taxable, but ... $200 million would be very large to any municipality.”
Wow, again!
When it comes to those big numbers, this malady must be contagious!
Since you can't do the math, Raynham, why not offer Carney TIFs?And to think, Senator Pacheco's "Local Aid" Bill was pathetic!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Casino Propaganda: Same Everywhere
Gambling is immensely profitable and the Industry can afford the best lobbyists to monopolize the conversation and the media, but not everyone is fooled.
Legislators, reluctant to make difficult decisions or employ sensible tax policy, blindly follow the false promises of "Something for Nothing."
The phony promises are the same around the country.
Enough bad influences without gambling
Ottumwa Courier
OTTUMWA — Gambling will cost everyone, even those who never gamble!
Mr. Jones, who are you to say that someone’s morals and ethics are questionable when you want to bring another drinking establishment not only into this town, but right across the road from a local family attraction that children frequent all summer long? This particular area is extremely busy during summer months — kids playing tennis, walking to The Beach, skate park, etc. Do we really want our children close to such an establishment? Would you want your child, Mr. Jones, to ride a bike or walk in that area? Can you tell me there won’t be folks getting behind the wheel after gambling and drinking for hours, who are now tired, drunk and probably distraught over losing their rent and grocery money for the week? Mr. Jones, these are not the same old scare tactics that you will probably suggest, it’s common sense.
People of Ottumwa, we need to wake up and protect our children! If we don’t, who will? You can guarantee it won’t be Mr. Jones, Mr. Siegel or our mayor.
There are enough bad influences already in this world without bringing more into our community like alcohol and gambling. What kind of a message are we sending? They both destroy families and wreck lives. These are facts, not opinions. There will be way more losers walking out of the casino than winners. Everyone living in Ottumwa and the surrounding communities will lose.
It is so easy to educate yourself to the smoke and mirrors that Roger Jones and Steve Siegel are trying to push on this city. Here is one of many articles that can be found with very little effort. If you want some cold hard facts, Google NCALG or casinowatch.org.
Read — Gambling and Crime: Chad Hills (Originally written by Ron Reno).
It talks about data from gambling communities across the country indicating that gambling does indeed foster a significant increase in crime. Polls show that most Americans assume an association between gambling and increased criminal activity. The gambling industry offers hearty denials and various statistical manipulations attempting to counter this perception. Data from gambling communities across the country, however, indicates that gambling does indeed foster a significant increase in crime.
You can also find on Web sites that in the first six years of casinos in Minnesota, the crime rate in counties with casinos increased more than twice as fast as in non-casino counties. According to an analysis by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the median crime rate in casino counties rose 39 percent during that period as compared to an 18 percent increase in non-casino counties.
University of Nevada-Las Vegas researchers concluded that the state of Wisconsin experiences an average of 5,300 additional major crimes a year due to the presence of casinos in that state. They also attributed an additional 17,100 arrests for less-serious crimes each year to the existence of casino gambling.
Brett and Deb Mitchell
Ottumwa
Unbiased study shows negative effects of casinos
Ottumwa Courier
OTTUMWA — Gambling fails in a cost benefit analysis by a margin of 3:1. This is the conclusion of a lengthy study by Professor Earl Grinols of the University of Illinois. Professor Grinols has studied the gambling industry and its relationship with state and local governments for over a decade. He spells out his findings in meticulous detail in his book, “Gambling In America: Costs and Benefits.” He makes it very clear that he accepts no funding from either pro gambling or anti gambling groups and has no objection to gambling itself morally. This would make him a very good independent source of information on this subject. He has testified before Congress and many state governments on gambling and its effects on local economies.
Professor Grinols also points out the fallacy of state and local governments trying to use gambling money to make up for revenue shortfalls. These gambling projects are disguised as economic development and sold to the public by politicians trying to avoid the “tax” word. In reality, the short term gains are overshadowed by their long term costs resulting in an even bigger regressive tax on the public. He carefully studies the documented increases in crime, addiction, bankruptcies, abuse and other social costs and attaches real dollar figures to them. I would suggest this resource for anyone interested in the gambling issue. The old adage, “If it sounds too good to be true ...” certainly applies here. The Courier has made its position clear so you won’t see any unbiased reporting on this information.
There are four casinos already in about an hour’s drive from Ottumwa. Do we really think that this casino is going to be a huge tourist destination with people bringing truckloads of money to lose here? Ingenus’ own study shows that 90 percent of their revenue would come from local “daytrippers.” Their idea is to market to Missouri to bring in money.
A quick look at the demographics will show that southern Iowa and northern Missouri have the highest poverty rates in the region. This strategy has not worked very well for Osceola. They have a struggling casino that they fear could close if one is located in Ottumwa. The pool of money in the local economy is only so big, and you cannot remove the amounts they are projecting without damaging the local economy.
It is interesting that the Courier editorial mentioned the vote required by Iowa law to have or keep a casino in a community. This is the law that the casino industry tried very hard to get removed in the last legislative session. They cited that it would cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars to run campaigns in those communities. If casinos were such a great deal for those areas, why would they need to spend huge amounts of money to convince people to keep them?
One could rightfully oppose a casino on moral grounds alone but it also fails the test on pure economic scrutiny. I would encourage everyone to write to: IRGC, 717 East Court, Suite B, Des Moines, IA 50309 and tell them you don’t want this in our town.
Tim Bitner
Ottumwa
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Organized Crime, Las Vegas Sands and the Sheldon Adelson Connection
Beacon Hill leadership, easily blinded by lazy solutions and mostly incapable of walking and chewing gum simultaneously, is flattered by grandiose promises.
Big Dig, anyone?
One of the Beacon Hill suitors is Sheldon Adelson.
Las Vegas Sands is listed with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth.
The excerpts below raise troubling questions about the inability of Beacon Hill leadership to raise the appropriate questions.
Special Report: High-Rollers, Triads and a Las Vegas Giant
Late last autumn, a Hong Kong jury convicted four men of a conspiracy to commit bodily harm and a fifth of soliciting a murder.
At first, the men had been ordered to break the arms and legs of a dealer at Sands Macau suspected of helping a patron cheat millions of dollars from the business. Later, a call went out to murder the dealer, court records show. But then one of the gangsters balked and reported the plans to authorities.
The plot's mastermind, ... was Cheung Chi-tai. At trial a witness identified Cheung as a leader of the Wo Hop To -- one of the organized crime groups in the region known as triads.
The murder-for-hire case sheds light on the links between China's secretive triad societies and Macau's booming gambling industry. It also raises potentially troubling questions about one of the world's largest gaming companies, Las Vegas Sands, which plans to open a $5.5 billion Singapore casino resort in late April.
Cheung was not just named as a triad member but also, according to a regular casino patron testifying in the trial, "the person in charge" of one of the VIP rooms at the Sands Macau, the first of three casinos run here by Las Vegas Sands.
An examination of Hong Kong court records, U.S. depositions from the former president of Sands, and interviews with law enforcement and security officials in both the U.S. and Macau, reveals a connection between Las Vegas Sands and Cheung -- ties that could potentially put Sands in violation of Nevada gaming laws.
"This relationship (with Cheung) would be of concern to Nevada authorities. You're talking about direct ties to bad guys."
The link between Macau's gambling industry and organized crime may be an open secret, but it has come under increasing scrutiny lately. Within the last two weeks, MGM Mirage said it would give up its holdings in New Jersey in response to pressure from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. The state agency had said that Pansy Ho, MGM Mirage's partner in Macau and the daughter of casino tycoon Stanley Ho, was an "unsuitable" associate, an assertion stemming from the agency's belief that her father has links to organized crime.
Siu, the "God of Gambling" suspected of colluding with the dealer at the Sands Macau, testified that he had been attacked, his house had been set aflame and that his son had received threatening phone calls. "As a result of Tsang Pau (Cheung), he (the witness) was frightened away from the Sands Casino," according to the judge's summary.
Sheldon Adelson according to Forbes:
...Las Vegas: bought old Sands casino for $128 million, demolished it to build the $1.5 billion all-suites Venetian casino resort and the 1.2-million-square foot Sands Convention Center.
Took Las Vegas Sands public December 2004; stock up 135% since. With family owns 244 million shares worth $17 billion.
From Wikipedia:
...quoted Adelson as saying that “old Democrats were with the union and he wanted to break the back of the union, consequently he had to break the back of the Democrats.” The Boston Globe also noted that Adelson has "waged some bitter anti-union battles in Las Vegas".
From The Brass Ring
...the Communists had banned gambling not only because it was against party principles but because “it has been a curse to my people way back in history like opium. It destroyed thousands of families from the bad old days to now.”
In May, 2004, the first gamblers entered the Sands Macao. Its construction costs were two hundred and sixty-five million dollars, and Adelson made back his initial investment in a year. In December, 2004, Adelson took Las Vegas Sands public (according to Forbes, he owns sixty-nine per cent of the stock) and became a multibillionaire, overnight.
Of China's Human Rights record:
Adelson said that many members of Congress criticize China for its human-rights record, but he added that he liked the way the Chinese run their country. “People seem to be living a good life in China,” he said. “Look at the incredible progress China has made. How can someone say they’re doing the wrong thing?” He added that those who don’t approve of the way China is governed need not go to the country. “I don’t think the U.S. should be the policeman of the whole world,” he said.
Cal Neva Closing
Frank Sinatra casino to close due to Las Vegas competition
A Nevada casino once owned by Frank Sinatra and patronised by Hollywood stars and mobsters has closed amid plunging gambling rates and competition from Las Vegas.
Not even a star-spangled history and an association with the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior has been enough to save the Cal Neva Lodge Casino from the grim realities of the US casino industry.
The casino, which sits on Lake Tahoe near the California border, last year saw its revenues fall to about a half of what they were in 1992 allowing for inflation, said William Eadington, director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada
Other local casinos have closed or made drastic cutbacks, unable to compete with Las Vegas – itself struggling – and the growing number of gambling resorts on Indian reservations.
"The realities are when you have that kind of decline the weakest operators typically get pushed out," said Professor Eadington. "The older, tired casinos and the Cal Neva is a great example don't have much to offer for gaming."
Prof Eadington said the casino had suffered from years of neglect as well as growing competition for a shrinking number of gamblers.
“It’s a tired property in a declining market,” he said.
He said the Cal Neva had long been viewed as “ill-starred place” - burning down in the 1930s and having a series of owners who went bankrupt or landed in prison.
Sinatra gave up the gambling licence in 1963 after Giancana, supposedly an outlaw, got into a fight on the premises and the singer later swore at the head of the local gaming control board.
Reputed to be America's oldest licensed casino, the Cal Neva opened in 1926 and hosted a 13-year-old Judy Garland's first performance nine years later.
However, it enjoyed its heyday in the early 1960s when it was bought by Sinatra, reportedly in partnership with Sam Giancana, a Chicago mobster.
Adding a 35-seat celebrity show room and rooftop helicopter pad, the pair ensured film stars, singers and Mafiosi flocked to its blackjack games and roulette tables.
A network of underground tunnels, built to smuggle alcohol during Prohibition, allowed the VIP guests to move around the resort without being seen by the public.
Monroe spent the last weekend of her life at the resort in 1962 as a guest of the Rat Pack actor Peter Lawford and his wife.
While there, she discussed making a film with Dean Martin and, it is said, a rapprochement with her second husband, the baseball star Joe DiMaggio, another regular Cal Neva guest.
However, a 1999 biography claimed Monroe was brought there to be threatened not to reveal her Mafia links, drugged in her cabin and photographed in compromising positions.
Another popular Cal Neva rumour claims she used the resort for a tryst with John F Kennedy, still another that Joe Kennedy, the president's father, took his secretary there each year while collecting the family Christmas tree.
Staff admit the resort – whose hotel and restaurant remain open – has traded off its colourful history but Guy Rocha, a former Nevada state archivist, said it would not register with younger gamblers.
"The Cal Neva doesn't capture people's imagination the way it once did," he said.
Station's Bankruptcy
Station Casinos loses $1.13B in 4th quarter
LAS VEGAS — Station Casinos Inc. lost $1.13 billion during the fourth quarter last year after heavy write-downs on its joint ventures, land and other assets, the privately held company said Wednesday.
The Las Vegas-based casino operator said the write-downs cost $1.29 billion, including $125.1 million at its joint ventures and $500,000 for developing new gambling opportunities.
The loss compared with a loss of $3.37 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, when the casino operator had one-time charges of $3.4 billion.
Station, which filed for bankruptcy protection in July, said its net revenues dropped to $256.5 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $289.8 million in the fourth quarter a year earlier. Gambling, food and beverage and room revenues all declined, the company said.
The company's occupancy rate was 78 percent during the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with 83 percent during the fourth quarter of 2008, despite lower nightly room rates. Rooms cost $67 per night on average during the three months that ended Dec. 31, compared with $76 per night the prior year.
Station said its loss for all of 2009 was $1.68 billion, compared with $3.27 billion in 2008.
The company reported $5.2 million in costs associated with its bankruptcy case, which was filed last July in Reno.
Station recently proposed a reorganization plan that would call for owners Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta plan to buy a 46 percent stake in four of its biggest casinos and sell Station's remaining assets through a bankruptcy sale. The Fertittas have said they would aggressively pursue buying back the casinos if a judge approves the plan.
Station has been struggling since it was taken private in a deal that closed in November 2007. Since then, people have spent significantly less money gambling — reducing Station's revenues and hurting its ability to refinance its debt.
The company said its long-term debt was $5.92 billion as of Dec. 31.
LAS VEGAS — Station Casinos Inc. lost $1.13 billion during the fourth quarter last year after heavy write-downs on its joint ventures, land and other assets, the privately held company said Wednesday.
The Las Vegas-based casino operator said the write-downs cost $1.29 billion, including $125.1 million at its joint ventures and $500,000 for developing new gambling opportunities.
The loss compared with a loss of $3.37 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, when the casino operator had one-time charges of $3.4 billion.
Station, which filed for bankruptcy protection in July, said its net revenues dropped to $256.5 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $289.8 million in the fourth quarter a year earlier. Gambling, food and beverage and room revenues all declined, the company said.
The company's occupancy rate was 78 percent during the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with 83 percent during the fourth quarter of 2008, despite lower nightly room rates. Rooms cost $67 per night on average during the three months that ended Dec. 31, compared with $76 per night the prior year.
Station said its loss for all of 2009 was $1.68 billion, compared with $3.27 billion in 2008.
The company reported $5.2 million in costs associated with its bankruptcy case, which was filed last July in Reno.
Station recently proposed a reorganization plan that would call for owners Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta plan to buy a 46 percent stake in four of its biggest casinos and sell Station's remaining assets through a bankruptcy sale. The Fertittas have said they would aggressively pursue buying back the casinos if a judge approves the plan.
Station has been struggling since it was taken private in a deal that closed in November 2007. Since then, people have spent significantly less money gambling — reducing Station's revenues and hurting its ability to refinance its debt.
The company said its long-term debt was $5.92 billion as of Dec. 31.
Las Vegas Sands, Sheldon Adelson, Organized Crime
LV Sands 'linkedto Macau gang'
SAN FRANCISCO - A news report out of the United States and Macau has alleged that previously undisclosed court transcripts from Hong Kong have linked global gaming company Las Vegas Sands (LVS) to members of organised crime in Macau.
According to the Reuters report, a Hong Kong jury had convicted four men last autumn of conspiracy to commit bodily harm and a fifth of soliciting the murder of a dealer at Macau Sands, the LVS-run casino. The dealer was suspected of helping a patron cheat the casino of millions of dollars.
Testimony at the trial reportedly said that Cheung Chi Tai, an alleged leader of the Wo Hop To organised crime group, was behind the murder plot. The report went on to say that a witness also testified that Cheung was in charge of a VIP room at Sands Macau.
Cheung is a major investor in the Neptune Group, a casino junket used to bring wealthy clients to the region's gambling halls, allowing him a share of profits from the VIP rooms.
The reporters did not disclose their sources but said that Nevada gaming officials were monitoring the situation, adding that it "would be of concern to the Nevada authorities" as Nevada gaming laws prohibit "unsuitable" associations that "discredit" its gaming industry.
Responding to the report, LVS said in a statement, "to our knowledge, Mr Cheung Chi Tai is not listed as a director or shareholder with any of the gaming promoters the company uses in Macau".
LVS is scheduled to open its US$5.5 billion ($7.7 billion) Marina Bay Sands integrated resort on April 27.
SAN FRANCISCO - A news report out of the United States and Macau has alleged that previously undisclosed court transcripts from Hong Kong have linked global gaming company Las Vegas Sands (LVS) to members of organised crime in Macau.
According to the Reuters report, a Hong Kong jury had convicted four men last autumn of conspiracy to commit bodily harm and a fifth of soliciting the murder of a dealer at Macau Sands, the LVS-run casino. The dealer was suspected of helping a patron cheat the casino of millions of dollars.
Testimony at the trial reportedly said that Cheung Chi Tai, an alleged leader of the Wo Hop To organised crime group, was behind the murder plot. The report went on to say that a witness also testified that Cheung was in charge of a VIP room at Sands Macau.
Cheung is a major investor in the Neptune Group, a casino junket used to bring wealthy clients to the region's gambling halls, allowing him a share of profits from the VIP rooms.
The reporters did not disclose their sources but said that Nevada gaming officials were monitoring the situation, adding that it "would be of concern to the Nevada authorities" as Nevada gaming laws prohibit "unsuitable" associations that "discredit" its gaming industry.
Responding to the report, LVS said in a statement, "to our knowledge, Mr Cheung Chi Tai is not listed as a director or shareholder with any of the gaming promoters the company uses in Macau".
LVS is scheduled to open its US$5.5 billion ($7.7 billion) Marina Bay Sands integrated resort on April 27.
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