Soon-to-be Speaker Wants Slots

Watch the last 15 seconds or so of the video in the Globe story. DeLeo's folks were practically dragging him away, but he couldn't stop himself from preaching about slots at race tracks and 'other discussion.' Hopefully, that battle won't happen for a while, but it's obvious that this is going to be a priority for him.

For newer readers, while there are no good ways to bring in slot machines, 'racinos' are by far the worst option. They don't take in very much money, they cater to prey on those with the least means to actually gamble - and they open the doors to full-scale casinos in this state, ones that may not even even be able to be taxed. Not only would slots not improve Massachusetts, they'd actually make the state much, much worse off.

ht Eury13

Updates- to reassure the democrat base, here's the talking point DeLeo's putting out there: the new speaker is a "good listener."

Um, yeah. Sure. Obviously, pushing for racinos, the Speaker is deaf to the 2008 ballot question results as well as last year's overwhelming vote. If he's a good listener, he'll leave slots as they are (banned in Massachusetts) and listen to reason. Slots are horrible policy for this state, like almost any other state. They ensnare countless people in a dangerous addiction (1 in 20 people w/in 50 miles) all the while killing local restaurants and businesses, which fuel our local economies and are owned by our brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors. Please, by all means listen, Representative DeLeo. We're tired of you not listening!