The DiMasi indictment

The DiMasi indictment needed acknowledgement and discussion.
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As I commented, Dan Kennedy neglected our State Senator, Marc Pacheco, who introduced the following woeful product, under the guise of providing Local Aid, when in fact, the intent is to preserve race tracks from rigor mortis:

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GOV 74
LOCAL AID

Mr. Pacheco moved that the bill be amended by inserting after Section____, the following new Section:-“SECTION _____. M.G.L. chapter 12 is hereby amended by adding, after section 11L, the following section(s):

SECTION 11M. The Attorney General is hereby authorized and directed to promulgate rules and regulations that allow for the installation of 6,000 gaming devices, also known as slot machines, at any racing facility licensed under Section 3 of Chapter 128A as of January 1, 2009, in Bristol, Suffolk and Norfolk counties, and 300 gaming devices at the International Terminals operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority at Logan International Airport. The regulations will be adopted by January 1, 2010, and will include the following:

1. Each respective host community will have the option via local approval to allow the installation and operation of gaming devices.

2. The tax rate to be paid to the state by slot machine operators will be at least the average and no greater than the highest tax rate that similar operations pay to their respective states throughout the United States.

3. The licensing fee to be paid to the state for a license to operate a slot machine facility will be $25 million.

4. All revenues generated from this act shall be added to the Local Aid Fund and distributed to cities and towns pursuant to section 18C of Chapter 58.

5. A gaming authority shall be established to license, regulate, and oversee slot machine licensees at licensed gaming facilities in the commonwealth.”

The point is made that even had the legislation passed, revenues wouldn't been seen for 12 months:
Reform? Where is it?
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The facts are pretty simple for those who take the time to review.
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1. For every $1 in revenue paid to the state, the cost is $3 or $4.
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2. Revenue generation and jobs created are overstated. Expenses are understated.
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3. Revenue leaving the state has been used successfully in other advertising campaigns by the gambling industry and haven't borne fruit.

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4. No single state that has legalized gambling is in better financial condition than the Commonwealth.

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5. Gambling Addiction is consistently underestimated and under reported by the industry.

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Slot machines are designed to addict. That's their purpose.

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80-90 % of revenues are produced by 10% of patrons.

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In the Gambling Industry's own words, Slot Machines are designed so that players "play to extinction" until you have spent every last dollar.

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This isn't about entertainment or a friendly boys' poker game.

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6. This is about promoting Addiction as a revenue source.

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When proponents don't want the facts to be known, they're hiding something. Gambling's Dirty Little Secrets

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In the words of my friend, Gladys Kravitz --

This may be a sign of the apocalypse, but I find Peter Porcupine's words comforting – and true.

In 2008, right before the Statehouse casino hearings, I created a video called "The DiMasi Code” - arguing that the fight wasn't between Patrick's forces and DiMasi's – but between the facts and the truth.

I was at those hearings for 13 hours – and for me the the biggest surprise of the day (perhaps because I'm from Pacheco/Flynn territory) were the legislators who deftly queried Harrah's casino execs and others. Even in the late and weary hours, their numbers and excuses didn't add up.

I also just happened to be at that meeting of the Regional Task Force on Casino Impacts at which the organizer revealed how Sen. Pacheco had tried to bring it to a stop. Casino and slot proponents not only regularly attempt to mute discussion and debate, they enjoy cultivating a sense of inevitability and making the little guy feel like he or she has no power to make a difference in it.

This is evidenced by the storefront in Palmer rented by Mohegan Sun.

Which reminds of a speech made by Diane Jefferies, former president of the League of Women Voters, who came out to speak at a forum in Middleboro the shortly before the historic July 2007 outdoor Town Meeting (from Hell).

She reminded me how American women won the right to vote in 1920 because of one letter – a letter written by the mother of an anti-suffrage legislator – and she had been swayed by the arguments of grassroots suffragists.

I have heard many people who "know politics" or "understand the current political climate" say that everything important is done behind closed doors by politicians with agendas.

I heard the same about a Middleboro casino for almost two years before the actual truth revealed it was never coming. And this reality was delivered by the hard work of just a few determined grassroots individuals from across the nation.

Anyone can make a difference if - they want to. Don't ever forget it. Everything important is subject to individual conscience.