Mayors, unions revive casino push

Make it happen.

Never going to find someone to put up the $$$$$ to build. Look at Vegas, Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, Atlantic City....All revenues way down, rooms for a song, hotel people getting their hours cut back. The ony winners here are losers.
Should have voted it in back when. Too late now!

the Governor is a idiot.. People need jobs --at the Sate House the Civil Service is corrupt. Many civil service workers came inb the back door.

There is obviously an appetite for expanded gaming in Massachusetts, so the legislature really needs to just go ahead and accept it. Since there are three different plans floating out there, I think the best plan is to merge all the ideas together. It could look something like this:

Revere/East Boston: Suffolk Downs and Wonderland have already agreed to a merger. This would be a perfect site for a Resort and Destination Casino, while maintain and focusing on a revitalized Suffolk Downs Racetrack.

Taunton: Site of Raynha,m Park Greyhound Track, you could install slots in the already existing facility.

Plainveille: Site of Plainridge Racecourse, install slots in the existing facility.

Palmer/Springfield: : The Mohegan Sun Group has plans to build a Resort and Destination Casino in Western Mass.
IND

geez, i wonder why they are pushing this...oh right they get suck more money from teh tax payers by running another failed development project.... Great, can we privatize the construction of these casinos and acutally get something that is functional and built to last.

would love to see this happen

Fat, lazy, good-for-nothing union scum. I am against anything that they support.

It is shame that the unions want to cut their noses off inspite of their faces. Build a building the exploits the working families it so proclaims to be helping it foolish.

Exploiting the elderly, weak and the poor for "the revenues" is heartless and serves only to DEVALue humanity.

Jay, if you're going to call people idiots, you might want to review your own comments before you hit 'submit'.

of course, the Governor and the Mayor ARE idiots. But that has more to do with the simple fact that they only understand raising revenues, and have no concept about cutting costs, which is obviously the more appropriate course. Until they figure that one out, they'll continue to behave like a dog chasing its tail.

Too late...........Typical of the Commonwealth

I concur with Shaboom: most regions with a large gambling industry, if not all, are also centers of high crime, corruption, prostitution, drug use, poverty, etc. It attracts the greedy and the desperate and one feeds off the other.

I grew up in Philly and I've visited Atlantic City often with family. The only signs of prosperity I've seen have been aesthetic: a 'nice looking' high school and the grandeur of the casinos and hotels. The rest of the area is comprised of pawn shops, strip bars, churches, liquor stores and run down homes.

Why are the unions all over this? oh ya - they can not accept that they had a wage freeze this year. boo hoo!

These corrupt, idiotic politicans and their fellow travelers in the labor unions are trying to generate money and influence in a recession economy on the backs of the beleagured taxpayers of this state. Casinos will create cesspools of crime, which we have enough of already in this state. These entities are essentially a way of taxing the poor and gambling addicted. I hope the citizens of the Commonwealth finally wake up and vote this pack of scoundrals out of office.

IND, anyone who uses the word "gaming' in place of 'gambling' is either an addict him/herself, or is in bed with the gambling-pushers, or both.

Notice that none of the mayors who signed are on the South Shore or in the Middleboro area. NIMBY, anyone?

I think people should think twice before putting casinos in Mass.
being married to a person that has a gambling problem/addiction
will just make it closer to home and alot more trouble for people dealing with the same issues.

and now look the craigs list killer, so they claim had a gambling problem Interesting.

I think people should think twice before putting casinos in Mass.
being married to a person that has a gambling problem/addiction
will just make it closer to home and alot more trouble for people dealing with the same issues.

and now look the craigs list killer, so they claim had a gambling problem Interesting.

I wonder how many payoffs there have been to Massachusetts pols by Foxwoods and others to keep gambling out of Massachusetts and keep it coming to Connecticut. We may as well have the jobs here. If they let the unions screw it up, however, which they probably will, it will just become another corrupt mess.

The idiot’s governor and Mayor are looking to increase more Philip Markoff cases in this Bay State?

state has enough of my money-If someone has a gambling addiction casino or no casino they will find a way to feed their habit. It's the same as an alcoholic or drug addict they won't stop until they make up their mind they want to stop and get themselves help. I'm also against casinos in Massachusetts but it's inevitable. The local stores with scratch tickets,numbers,keno,the bingo games,bookmakers taking sports bets are just as bad and those are here to stay. Beacon Hill knows if put on the ballot casino gambling will pass and people can only blame themselves.

The Massachusetts Teachers Association is on this as well.

Typical.

Speaking of gambling and crime, the most recent headline on Phillip Markoff suggests that he may have a gambling problem and was motivated to rob people to support it.

If someone from a fairly privileged background and lifestyle is vulnerable to gambling addiction, wouldn't susceptibility to addiction be worse among people in the middle and lower class?

We need to keep in mind long term effects of what we build and invest in. Isn't negligence of long term planning why our economy is screwed up in the first place?

Markoff may have had a gambling problem? Yes, MA needs casinos. More vice and more crime. Very good MA politicians. Keep up the good work.

Reality check people!!! Gambling is a regressive tax. Most who gamble are low and middle income people hoping to strike it rich. They already have the opportunity to drive to CT, fly to Vegas or just buy a scratch ticket at the corner store so why make it even easier for them to waste their hard earned money?? How about we raise revenue in a much more equitable manner by raising the gas tax by a paltry 19 cents. This would cost the typical driver $110 a year and the burden would be shared across all economic strata.

Finally, check out the possible motive of the Craigslist murder suspect. That's right, a gambling addiction!!!! So go ahead, build the casinos and encourage more people to waste their hard earned money and perhaps sow the seeds of another gambling addict doing anything for his fix. Shame on our state........

Whether some people have a gambling problem should not even be an issue...civil liberties people! I guess we should ban alcohol due to the alcoholics and make driving illegal to take care of speeders...shame on all of you

Anybody read the news today? The suspected killer is believed to have had a GAMBLING PROBLEM! HELLLLOOOO!

I have no problem with slots at Suffolk Downs but how do they expect Route 1-A to handle the traffic that a slot parlor would generate when it can't handle normal rush hour traffic now. There needs to be some serious infrastructure improvements before anything like this happens. Local neighborhoods cannot support people cutting through the already busy streets just to get to the slots. Doing so would put children and the elderly at risk.

So we vote and build casinos (plural) and we can expect a 10% increase in what the lottery is currently giving towns?

It will certainly have a negative affect on the lottery's numbers. So it appears it wouldn't be much of a windfall or even a gain for local towns.

justlikeitis,

There is a word for people who cater to other people's addiction: enabler.

Drew: no one is talking about taking away from anyone's civil rights, so that it is worthless argument. I may have missed it, but the last time i read the US or MA constitutions, i did not see anything about a right to gamble at places built with the cooperation of government.

There's this one hour radio show in Lawrence on 1110 AM that touches on this issue alot. The guys on the program focus on Casino Gambling and one of them really wants one put in his backyard. In fact, when I was listening, one of them also wants to convert Bob Kraft's Patriot Place into a casino. I concur. Perfect fit.

nobody will benefit from a casino here. desperate people do desperate things ! anyone that has a problem and wants a quick fix yes they buy tickets and play the number. and for some that's out of control. but to have casinos available will be a huge mistake for this state.

I don't think gambling has the same effect as driving. you don't get pulled over for spending money that you didn't have to spend to begin with !
people with addiction want quick action. and having something like that in our backyard is not a good idea.

Biting on the casino worm is like buying into a car that costs $14,000 but costs $1,000,000 to maintain. Don't believe the hype! Casino's are not the fix. For every $1 in revenue the state will lose $3. Read Grinols and Mustard. Don't believe me? Why do Ca,NJ,Conn. etc. all have higher tax rates than Mass. if casino's are so profitable? The truth is, they're an economic cancer. They will take your money even if you don't step one toe thru the door.

I don't think casinos would help MA at all. My husband's best friend lives in New London, CT, spitting distance from Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. In the 15 years since Foxwoods opened, New London has remained a crime-ridden slum. Only the tribes operating the casinos have benefitted.

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