Late to the Game: Ex-Chief Pleading Guilty

Like cheese and wine, Mulder and Skully and peanut butter and jelly, casinos and criminal activity just go together. Today's story about ex-Wampanoag chief Glenn Marshall is no exception. It made Gladys's holidays - and I dare say Dan Kennedy has a thing or two to say about it.

Suffice it to say, I'm not quite so sure how long the Wampanoag's are going to want to hold onto that land they planned to use for the casino - because between the economy and all this Glenn Marshall stuff (illegal contributions to get the tribe federal status included), it's just not in the decks anymore.

Today's LeftAhead: Gladys Kravitz

Casinos, Middleboro, her hilarious, poignant blogging methodology... all up for discussion in today's podcast.

Deval Patrick Supports the Beeping and the Flashing

Amazingly, I received the first photos of the proposed Middleboro casino. Rumor has it the Wampanoags will call it the Luxor Deval.

Casinos in Massachusetts - Governor Patrick thinks it's a good idea. Of course, there's merit to both sides. That's why there's the good, the bad and the ugly.

Let's start in reverse order: The Ugly. Deval Patrick has decided to support the construction of not one, not two - but three mega resort casinos all in Massachusetts. You know, the one's that kill local businesses and keep the poor, well, poor. Go read Governor Patrick's statement on why he's going to support the last thing Massachusetts really needs. I think he's read a lot of the same data and came to a very, very different - and unnerving - conclusion. For starters:

These three destinations would generate more than 20,000 permanent and diverse jobs throughout the state with good wages and benefits

Since when did casino jobs come with good wages? Many in Nevada do offer benefits, but they're the same minimum-wage type jobs you could get at McDonalds, cleaning the bathrooms. Except you get overly expensive HMOs. Hooray! Knowing how to play poker is a skill, for sure, but one that looks a little more flashy when the celebrities dish it out on TV than it does in real life. It won't put your kid through college. Furthermore, many - if not most - of these regional casino jobs are shipped into the state and few forever stay.

The Bad: The biggest reason why Governor Patrick seems to be supporting casinos is because of added revenue, but at what cost is that revenue worth? Of course, cost - in this case - has several meanings. There's the social costs and economic ones. We can all guess at the social costs: casinos do make money, but they're making it off the people who can least afford to give it up. Keeping the poor perpetually poor is usually a play in the Republican handbook. Furthermore, all of these casinos are going to want state money to build roads, pay for police and do all sorts of things. And you know what? We're going to give it to them. It'll take years and years for all of these "added revenues" to really amount to anything.

Casino revenue in Massachusetts will be dwarfed by our entire budget; it's truly a pittance. It's always been true that people - and, in this case, states - should focus on what they're good at. If we want to create revenue, we need to focus on research and development, education and maintaining our edge in being an international financial headquarters. Massachusetts has a history of labor and intel, not cheap light slows and casino madness. Casino revenue won't build a new Storrow Drive Tunnel or rail to New Bedford, but creating stem cells that will cure paralysis just could.

This is one of the few decisions Governor Deval Patrick has made in his office that truly disappoints me; we're better than this. We can solve our own problems without any easy fixes. Sometimes taking the easier path isn't the best path - and, if casinos are allowed in this state, the Massachusetts pathway will be changed forever. The change, sadly, won't be for the better: it'll be trodden, broken and completely unrepairable.

Yet, that brings us all to... The Good. There's one shining hope: Not a single casino has been built in Massachusetts. It's not too late. The FBI is currently investigating the first potential casino - and the legislature still can prevent them. Lastly, while Deval Patrick has made a tremendous, egregious and horrible mistake, he's still a good Governor. Yet, unlike drapery, cars and phone calls - this is a real mistake. This decision could effect everyone in Massachusetts, if he's allowed to have his way. His goals and vision are still correct, which is a great thing - but allowing casinos in the state won't bring us there. Thankfully, the Democratic Process was established because even talented leaders can be wrong sometimes. Now, it's just a matter of our checks and balances kicking into gear. Yo, DiMasi, what have you done for me lately?

Woot!! Casino Madness Extreme!

Roulette - or Russian Roulette?

"Sweet goodness, all things great! Pull that lever down, let's win big!" "Let's," of course, is short for "let us" and refers to the Wampanoags - and, more likely, their developers and financiers. Why? Because no one ever really "wins big" at casinos - except, of course, for the few people at the top that get everyone to spend all their hard work. They win, but at a steep cost.

But let's not dwell on the tough facts; anyone have any other ideas for good slogans? Few like slogans as much as casinos; cheap slogans and casinos go hand in hand. "The wonder of it all!" Oh, wait, no, that's taken. We should really start the advertising now, so the developers make maximum profit. What kind of country would America be today if we let a CEO go without a corporate bonus?

The good news is they're on the right path, planning would could become the world's largest casino ever. Largest ever. Because that's what the Wampanoags are promising to build. Endless levers as far as the eye can see. Dinks and donks beeping and chirping along, with brilliant Time-Square-esque flashes and flutters all about. Sounds beautiful, eh?

The 4,000 slot machines in the plan are only half as many already in operation or planned at Connecticut's two casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, but it shows plenty of room available for future expansion. At a planned 400,000 square feet for the gambling floor, the Middleborough facility would be about one-third larger than the gambling space at Foxwoods and Mohegan, which are among the world's largest casinos.

There's nothing like leaving a little space for growth. Just look at Foxwoods. It went from a Bingo Hall in 1986 to one of the world's largest casinos ever about twenty years later. Middleborough could start as one of the largest and reach - what? - massively epic fucking proportions? I'm sure typical visitors in Cape Cod will just love it. Who wants the beach, when they can get an open bar and see all the whizzing numbers as they insert dollar after dollar into the dollar-eating machines. More chips please. Oh, that'll help the local business in their few summer months, alright.

The good news about having endless amounts of slot machines today is the fact that people don't have to actually pull down the levers any more. Now, you can just push buttons. It's faster, so people spend more money don't have to tire their arms so. Oh, and the beeping noises are so much fun! Sweet, I just won something! Again! Again! And Again! Maybe it'll cover the tip for the tab I collected?

Casino Madness

Today's Globe article on the Wampanoags and their quest for a casino has a few paragraphs that are a real doozey, but first the key information from the article:

• Despite the fact that there's a mounting effort to change tribal leadership, Hendricks supporters "tried to present" a unified front.
• There's lots of he said, she said going on - on who are actually the "real" Mashpee Wampanoags. Tests of patriotism abound.
• The application to build a casino is going to the federal government today, which is one important step in getting acceptance.
• That process can take upwards of 18 months.
• Governor Patrick is the other major road block, but he's not expected to decide on it now until the "next month."

One wonders if troubles with their former leader, Glenn Marshall, pushed back Patrick's decision beyond Labor Day, which was the Governor's target date earlier in the summer. Nothing will set back a decision like finding out the leader sending you the proposal had a record - including being a convicted rapist. Yikes.

But anyway, I promised a few good quotes - and I'll deliver. Anyone know the definition of hypocrisy?

Hendricks, speaking on the edge of a grassy field outside the tribe's headquarters in Mashpee, said the allegations are untrue and called the members making the complaints "a group that want money and want power."

He said the tribe will continue the effort to build a casino in Middleborough and honor other agreements and plans the tribe had made under Glenn Marshall, who resigned as chairman last week amid disclosure that he embellished his war record and was a convicted rapist.

So, Hendricks accuses the group that seeks to unseat him as wanting "money and... power." Isn't that exactly what Hendricks wants himself? And all the Wampanoags who favor the casino? They aren't exactly supporting the construction of a soup kitchen here, folks. Let's not mince words - the Womponoag proponents of unseating Hendricks still want to build the casino, but they propose to toss out the current deal with developers because they think it a bad deal. They want an open bidding process - doesn't that actually make sense? Does anyone really trust the current leadership, when they're the one's who were likely handpicked by Glenn Marshall, the convicted rapist? Not to mention all the uninvestigated Jack Abramoff connections - they're just the inspiration of confidence in this whole deal. Opening up everything for a little breath of fresh air, giving time to find out all the important facts, can't be a bad decision.

So let's sum up this whole nightmare; the current Middleboro casino deal is

• Bad for the Commonwealth
• Bad for people who want to know exactly what they're building beforehand
• And Bad for the Wampanoags.

Is anyone really all that surprised?

Update: Very definately not the "Last of the Mohegans." Here's some more food for thought for our Governor as he makes his casino decision.

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority signed an exclusivity agreement with a developer who owns a 150 acre parcel of land near the Massachusetts Turnpike. The intention is to build a retail complex on the site that can also accommodate a casino if the Commonwealth of Massachusetts legalizes gaming.

High Stakes Town Meetings

As no doubt everyone knows by now, Middleboro passed two important measures last Saturday. The first was a 'yes' vote on the proposal for a Womponoag casino in Middleboro. The second was a 'no' vote on the ethereal casino, the concept of casinos in Middleboro. Why the inconsistency?

Someone could write a fifty page paper using Saturday's Middleboro Town Meeting as a case study in how people think and vote. For starters, the vote on whether or not town residents wanted a casino at all came second - a bit peculiar, but rational from a psychological point of view. If that vote came first, it would have been more likely many people would have voted no the second time around: a no vote on casinos would have already been established, rephrasing the question would have only served to piss voters off. However, reversing the order allowed voters to vote for the money, then complain about it in their very next vote.

Of course, there's more than the way our minds work at stake here. There are two other important things to remember here. The first is less important, but certainly more infuriating. It isn't every day that it seems as though everyone is conspiring against a town, but Saturday was one of those days for Middleboro. First, you have the speed at which this proposal was accepted: the actual deal the town voted on was posted online less than a week before the event. It was a 45 page document, written by lawyers no doubt. How were voters supposed to read and understand all 45 pages of the fine print? The answer? They weren't - as was later found out in the Globe, when a UMASS Dartmouth professor discovered the rhetoric didn't quite match the figures. The casino promised 11 million a year for the town, when in reality it'll be millions less.

But, who's going to let the truth get in the way? Of course, media-critic Dan Kennedy has more on that. Want to know what's probably the biggest reason why the town would vote against casinos in general, but for the Womponoag casino? Well, via Dan Kennedy, here's a theory:

No doubt some people voted "yes" on the agreement because they would genuinely like to see a casino come to Middleborough. But there were others, plenty of others, I suspect, who voted "yes" because they were told, repeatedly, that the casino was coming whether they wanted it or not, and that they might as well negotiate the best terms that they could.

Ah, yes, the rumors were certainly spreading around Middleboro that a casino was (in)coming - irregardless of how the people voted. May as well get something out of it, right? Not only does Dan Kennedy talk about that, but I'm pretty sure Joe Schlieff , a Middleboro resident and frequent Ryan's Take commenter, was talking about the very same rumor in a comment a while back. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth: there is nothing inevitable about a casino in Middleboro - even today.

In fact, that's the second and most important thing to come out of Middleboro's town meeting. Saturday's vote, as it stands, is just as symbolic as their vaporous "do we want casinos?"Of course, neither vote really means much in the grand scheme of things, which makes their spitting in the wind with their Question After the Fact all the more laughable. It's Beacon Hill that will decide whether or not a casino will be built in Middleboro (followed by one in Martha's Vineyard). Because of the way federal law works, states get to decide what kinds of gambling they'll allow. If any of a particular kind of gambling is allowed, in any way, shape or form, Native Americans can incorporate those games on their land within the state. However, Massachusetts does not allow slot machines in any way, shape or form - at least today. Therefore, the Womponoags can't have them - and a casino, without slots, certainly won't be turning any big profits. A casino in Middleboro isn't quite as inevitable as citizens of the town were lead to believe, which they probably would have realized if the town didn't jam the lies down their throat in the first place.

Alas, let's not be mistaken here. The #1 reason why Saturday's vote turned out the way it did was because the town elites within Middleboro arranged it. Yes, even in America, votes can be arranged. Let's go over the facts: a huge Town Meeting, where thousands were expected to come, was set up in a matter of a few weeks. Even Secretary of State Bill Galvin, who's usually inept, knew enough to question the validity of that. The result? Thousands in the town couldn't come: it was a hot, summer day - so none of the elderly, obviously, would be there. Of course, parents with young kids were less likely to show. Then, there's the people on vacation: they couldn't change it in the few weeks notice they had.

More importantly, has anyone questioned why the town's administration did nothing to correct 'the casino is inevitable' meme? Gee whiz, I wonder why? One reason: people who would buy it, but didn't want a casino, sure as hell won't waste their Saturday on a done deal. Here's another: the whole speed of the thing helped foster the idea that the casino was inevitable. The town admin propogated that rumor with the haste at which they organized the vote. By speeding the process up, people were less likely to learn all the facts. They were less likely to learn there was nothing inevitable about it at all. They were less likely to learn that the big part of the town agreement - 11 million dollars - was more myth than reality. They were less likely to force the town to actually study - and vet - the process. Towns vet whether or not to allow a Dunkin Donuts on a busy street, or whether Kennedy Avenue needs a stop sign: there's only one reason why Middleboro's administration wouldn't want to vet a casino.

All of the above becomes more obvious when you learn facts like the police union endorsed the deal. These are the same police officers who, as Dan Kennedy wrote, blatantly allowed Yes Voters to wear campaign literature, but stopped No Voters from having the same kind of rights. This is the same town who's selectmen had their spouses speak on behalf of the deal. Of course, no one would expect they did any fishy business to make sure it passed, behind the scenes, right? Well, the Powers that Be - the Good 'ol Boys, as Lynne likes to call them, did everything in their power to make sure the casino passed. Yet, in the end, thankfully, they aren't the ones who get to decide.

Friday Musings: Hillary, Casinos and More

I'm off to New Bedford to sample the local cuisine and meet up with friends, but first some quick thoughts for the weekend.

• How the media latched onto Hillary's impertinent response to Obama - and thought it was a plus for Hillary - is beyond me. Did anyone honestly believe that what Obama meant, when he said he'd meet with foreign dictators and regimes within a year's time, was that he wouldn't send advance envoys? Good for Obama, in New Hampshire no less, to criticize Hill, calling her Bush-Lite. She is Bush-Lite and deserves his rebuke; continuing Bush's regime of playing politics with diplomacy, as if it were some play toy, is not the basis of international peace.

• The media, in the above example, continues to show its ineptitude. Pro-Hillary pundits latched on to those few seconds, which during the debate seemed unremarkable, and haven't helped her cause at all (despite their insistence that it did). This will only continue to backfire for her. Imagine my shock, however, when Hardball's usually insane host (Chris Mathews) actually pushed hard on Clinton's spokesman - who was debating the matter with Obama's guy. The Clinton hack actually insinuated that Obama was already planning those meetings, without a shred of evidence, making it all too easy I suppose. My only question: did she hire Shrum's people or what?

• Read my blog on tomorrow's vote in Middleboro: we can't let anyone fudge the numbers and get away with it. It goes to show why we have a system of government where projects are vetted with hearings before they're voted on. Thank god someone was vetting this, because Middleboro was about to get fleeced.

• Then read the BMG diary for a local's take and good comments. The big shocker: another lie became the basis of the casino's support. There's a rumor going around that the casino is inevitable, so people must vote yes. Except, in fact, the reverse is true: no matter how the town votes on Saturday, Beacon Hill controls the casino's fate. The State Legislature and Gov Patrick would still have to okay the deal. Furthermore, pushing the casino against Middleboro's will, as the rumor suggests, certainly wouldn't be persuasive to the powers that be.

• I didn't blog about it earlier, but kudos to NStar for buying up renewable energy to sell to its costumers. For a small premium of $7-15 dollars, people can turn on all the AC they want - without any of the guilt. Today's 90 degree weather has been a killer, but still my AC remains off. I refuse to contribute to Salem's dirty coal-burning plant any more than required; getting my electricity from the beautiful turbines in New York and soon-to-be Maine would be a refreshing relief in today's summer doldrums.

Oh, What a Surprise: Casinos & Lies, Lies, Lies

The most offensive thing about this new casino deal is the fact that it's getting pushed so fast people aren't going to know what hit them. As I talked about on Tuesday, the 45 page document that the town of Middleborough will vote on tomorrow was only posted on Monday, giving town voters less than a week to vet and analyze it. If this were a project at Beacon Hill, professional legislators - who's job it is to vet major projects like this - would have had months to analyze all the aspects of this deal. Yet, ordinary voters, in a town meeting organized so fast that even Secretary of State Bill Galvin is nervous, are expected to be able to properly analyze this in such a short time?

Well, it appears as if - even in the course of a week - some of the lies, deceit and trickery are spilling forth. According to the Boston Globe, to get the town to pass the project, the Womponoags 'sweetened the deal,' promising the town 11 million dollars a year - up from the 7 it had previously promised. Citizens in the town thought they were going to get fleeced and demanded more, but the casino only pretended to budge. Here's what the town's Finance Committee found:

About 10,000 of the 15,000 registered voters in Middleborough are expected to attend tomorrow's Town Meeting and to vote on the deal. As town officials finished preparations for what is expected to be the largest Town Meeting in state history, Middleborough's Finance Committee released a report recommending a no vote and promised to speak against the deal at the meeting.

One issue in the committee's 5-to-2 vote against the agreement is skepticism about the hotel tax revenue. "That $4 million could turn into $1 million," said the committee chairman, Richard Pavadore.

The casino has projected hotel billing and occupancy rates that just don't line up with reality. They don't even stack up against the numbers Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods charge, despite the fact that with another casino in close proximity to them they'll all probably suffer some in terms of occupancy and billing rates. Any fool knows that with more casinos, the hotels they have become cheaper. Heck, someone could go to a Las Vegas 4 star hotel for less than a hundred bucks a night.

Clyde W. Barrow, a gambling researcher at UMass-Dartmouth, said the casino market is too competitive to allow one casino to charge significantly higher room rates. Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are about 70 miles from Middleborough.... Using the existing market as a guide, Barrow said, he calculated that the hotel would provide Middleborough about $2.3 million a year in tax revenue, rather than $4 million.

Here's what it all boils down to: we just don't know. Maybe this project really would create so much revenue for the state of Massachusetts that it would be worth all the costs associated with a casino. Given the data we have from around the country, I highly doubt it, but I'll admit: we don't know. We haven't had any serious time to vet this project. It's been pushed so fast that all the efforts on it going forward have been in planning its passage - not planning whether or not it ought to be built. That's a serious mistake.

There's a reason why Democracy is slow. Sometimes, it may frustrate people: no one wants to wait around for committees to investigate, then have their hearings, then vote to move it forward, then have a conference committee, then investigate it as a conference committee and, then, finally have both houses vote on the merits. However, there's a reason why we go through all those steps: to protect the people of Massachusetts. Instead of following the normal process, the Womponoags have sprung this project on a town that, like most across Massachusetts, needs money bad. Of course, they're interested in the millions a year a casino would promise.

It's an attempt to get the town to pass the project so they can pressure the state legislature to allow it, because they'd be vilified if they didn't. I can see the Globe headline now: "State Denies Middleborough Millions a Year." It wouldn't play nicely, even if they were looking out for everyone's best interest. Because of the way things have been going, we may not have discovered the casino fudged its numbers: heck, people only had a week to read the 45 pages of fine print.

The experts of town finance in Middleborough, their Finance Committee, have overwhelmingly voted against the project: that's step one in a brief vetting process. Let's hope the rest of the town says "hey, hold on," and votes this project down. We just don't know enough about it. We haven't investigated all the ins and outs yet. There's no reason why we can't go back and pass it later, after its been seriously vetted. However, to pass it now, without all the facts, would be a serious misjudgement.

Deval Patrick's Second Big Test

Governor Patrick was victorious in his first big test, protecting the Goodridge decision. However, come Saturday, Governor Patrick's job is either going to become a lot easier or harder depending on what happens in the moderately-sized Middleborough. Over ten thousand registered voters, residents of the town, are expected to show up to Massachusetts's largest town meeting ever. They're going to vote on whether or not to accept a deal that would place a casino in their town.

How they vote, however, only makes a symbolic difference. The truth is that no matter what happens on Saturday, it's up to the State Legislature and Governor Patrick to decide whether or not we'll allow a casino in Massachusetts. They're the ones who give the permission. They're the ones who can allow slot machines. Everything is up to them. With Governor Patrick's veto power and ability to frame the debate via bully pulpit, he faces his second big test sooner than he may have liked. Will Massachusetts really become a little bit more like Las Vegas, or will we reject mega-casinos and everything that comes with them?

Governor Patrick has always been somewhat mum on casinos. As no one would doubt, he's exceedingly intelligent. I'm sure he knows all of the relevant facts: casinos may bring some extra tax dollars, but they have a lot of costs associated with them too. The Wompanoags have already admitted that they'll seek state aid for their massive infrastructural needs. There's extra crime, drunk driving and gambling associated with casinos. We already have a great state lottery system, one that would no doubt be effected by allowing casinos. Finally, because of the way casino laws are designed, if we allow one casino, we're allowing a whole lot more (Martha's Vineyard, for starters).

When casinos come to town, local businesses face a crushing burden: pre-casinos Atlanta had a bustling nightlife and lots of entertainment and restaurants. Now, they just have casinos: where there was once over 200 local restaurants, clubs and other similar small businesses, there are now less than 60. Because casinos are massive and all inclusive, complete with restaurants, clubs, bars and hotels, it's the same in Connecticut and elsewhere. How can small businesses compete when casinos have everything? The answer is they don't.

Deval Patrick almost certainly knows all of these things, yet it's still a difficult decision for him. Why? Even if Deval Patrick knows all the pertinent information, most people don't know the facts. When discussing casinos, I've noticed there tend to be three different varieties of people. First, there are those who love casinos and want them nearby: they don't care about revenue, taxes or anything else; these people just want to partay. Then, we have the kind of people who may or may not like to gamble, but see this as a good revenue source. Lastly, there are people like me: people who oppose casinos, either for social or economic reasons. Deval Patrick has to take everyone's thoughts into consideration and include them in his analysis, one he says will come by Labor Day.

I wish he'd come right out and wage this war, though. I know it's not the battle he asked to fight: he has other, bigger priorities right now. However, casinos in Massachusetts will radically change the state. We won't be the same anymore - and this isn't exactly the kind of change that's good. While sometimes it's worth forsaking a proper cost-benefit analysis to bow down to the will of the people, I'd rather a fully engaged and knowledgeable population first. To pass this current test, Governor Patrick ought to use his bully pulpit to show the pitfalls and traps casinos will present in Massachusetts. Then, when the state legislature hopefully strikes the casino proposals down, we can keep moving merrily along in our quest to make this state even better with efforts that are more than skin deep.

Casino Stink: Town Residents Get 1 Week to Review Plan

Good luck to Middleborough's 15,000 registered voters, because they get 8 days to review a 45 page document. And, honestly, who knows if the town would have posted the agreement ever unless the Secretary of State, Bill Galvin, intervened.

While the agreement with the tribe was reached Friday, town officials did not release it to the public until yesterday afternoon [Monday], by posting it on the town website after Galvin intervened. Galvin's office has administrative authority over the state public records law, which covers the agreement.

You know things are really bad when even Galvin raises his voice and asks serious questions. How the town thinks it can plan a 15,000 person town meeting in under a month is a serious concern - the town should have had months to plan such a large and important meeting, giving that time to both allow residents to vet the plan and town administrators the time to plan a safe, reputable massive town meeting. The last time we may have seen direct democracy on this scale is ancient Athens... and Thomas Jefferson and James Madison had a few concerns about that style of governance, especially given 8 days to 15,000 people to decide 45 pages worth of concerns.

The forces that be are pushing this proposal beyond all measure, waving their fingers arrogantly at both democracy and basic fairness in the quest to get $11 million more in additional funding. Who knew greed came so cheap? Never mind the fact that the casino seeks untold millions in state money for infrastructural costs, added police and fire presence and who knows what else, the people of Massachusetts are about to get fleeced.

The leadership at Beacon Hill must act boldly, even if Middleborough's leadership plans on pushing proposals through without giving residents enough time to truly weigh their decisions. We elect representatives across the state to protect the people: they have a solemn duty to do what Middleborough's leadership hasn't - truly vetting the decision and making sure they're looking out for what's good and right in Massachusetts.

There is nothing that should compel Beacon Hill to automatically pass slots gambling for this particular casino or any, should it get through Middleborough's voters come this Saturday: no casino will ever be built in this great Commonwealth unless and until our state government concedes on legalizing slot machines. The casino proponents should have come to the state directly, instead of some random town. They've tried to force our hands and we ought to say no. The residents of a small town may need a little luck to avoid being fleeced by the powers that be, but it's much harder to do so against the entirety of the people of Massachusetts: we've waged bigger battles and fought harder wars than to be defeated by some casino.