Comments on: House Speaker DeLeo Banks On Casinos, Slots

By: Anonymous

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By: Steven T. Quinn

Steven T. Quinn — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:11:58 +0000

Casinos are a bad idea. The amount of casinos and legalized gambling has grown so much in the northeast over the past decade. Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticutt, New York, Pennsylavania. I actually heard there are more slots in Pennsylvania than Las Vegas. The market is flooded. Not to mention, Foxwoods is the largest casino in the U.S. Tax revenues earned from casinos is best when you attract people from outside your state, which is what Vegas and CT do. Is anyone going to drive from outside of New England to MA just to go to some crappy casino in the middle of nowhere when there is probably a closer option in their home state? Deleo and his colleagues should focus more on cutting taxes and budgets. Tough times call for tough measures. Casinos sound appealing, but are not saving grace people expect them to be. Like Scott Copley mentioned, why is CT facing worse budget crisis than MA?

By: D Aarensberg

D Aarensberg — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:37:10 +0000

Give me a break. No, there are not “untold riches” to be had by legalizing casinos, but any thinking person knows that they will generate some revenue for the state. The fate of CT and RI isn’t because casinos aren’t bringing in money, it’s because those states have relied too heavily on those funds rather than the existing tax base.

There are plenty of social side effects from gambling, but those who claim that those problems will be greater because casinos are in MA rather than in CT or RI have never met an addict. At least with casinos here the state will be able to raise funds to help combat those social costs.

By: Scott Copley

Scott Copley — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:16:19 +0000

I found this story missed the mark on expanded gambling beyond just the reporter using the industry approved marketing of the business as gaming. What was missing from all of this discussion is where is the money coming from and how truthful are the studies showing untold riches just waiting to be had if only we’d pave the state with casinos. Focusing solely on the revenues and jobs a casino would create completely ignores how much jobs and revenue these facilities would take away from the state, as people only have so much discretionary income to spend. Mysteriously, this crucial financial data is never analyzed. Next, if both Connecticut and Rhode Island are essentially making free money from Mass residents to the tune of billions of dollars according to Clyde Barrow’s industry funded studies, why then do both of these states have worse budget deficits than Massachusetts? On the strength of gambling alone, they should both be in the black. Doesn’t that cast considerable doubt on just how much of a positive economic impact these facilities actually have, and why wasn’t this question explored in depth in the NPR piece.