Saturday, April 3, 2010
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When a state or community expands gambling, the results are predictable.
Cracks start appearing in the legalization process - opponents are marginalized, benefits are over-stated, and the public is often left out of the process altogether. And you can be certain that the gambling industry has been funneling countless millions into effecting the outcome.
Of course, here in Massachusetts, it was the downturn in the economy that opened the door - even after casinos went down to a resounding defeat in 2008, though ironically, the industry itself was suffering from the same economic downturn, and the over-proliferation of slots in other states. Not that facts have anything to do with gambling legislation.
In any event, whenever gambling legislation
is passed, it's promises are soon forgotten. Except for now.
In the digital universe, a legislators name can now be linked to the decisions they've made in office. Forever.
Long after the last construction worker has left the casino site, one-time licensing fees are spent and forgotten, and slot revenue quickly absorbed into a state budget which quickly finds itself once in deficit, the impacts of slots and resort casinos will begin to take their toll on individual lives, the community, and eventually, the the state itself
Like clockwork.
Business closings, embezzlement, robberies, child abandonment, suicide.... many of these things will make the news
after casinos, slot parlors and racinos are built. But here, finally, is a way to give credit where credit is due to those legislators who felt these were just the costs of doing business. Those who caved to political pressure, couldn't be bothered to do their homework, who thought they knew it all, suffered from short-sightedness, or simply drank too much Kool-aid.
But this site isn't for them. It's a place for those who will inevitably be effected by expanded gambling to vent their frustrations, tell their stories, and of course, put a face on their predicament.
