CasinoWatch

Patrick's casino obsession; Guv, Wamps pow-wow; Squabble with DiMasi

Patrick's casino obsession
Tribe rebuffs Governor, pursues U.S. casino OK

Patrick administration, Wampanoags hold casino huddle

Governor Patrick's aides huddled today with members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe as they seek common ground over plans to bring casino gambling to Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, the governor is ratcheting up his dispute with House Speaker Sal DiMasi over the plan.
   In a rare end-around on a legislative leader, the governor wrote directly to all the members of DiMasi's chamber.
   He criticized their leader for blasting his proposal to license three resort-style casinos after the revelation it might not create the 30,000 construction jobs Patrick had estimated.
   Patrick argued that the "speaker's alternative" was zero jobs.
  A DiMasi spokesman shot back -- saying it's "understandable that the governor is concerned since his numbers don't add up"...  WPRI. 
Someday we may learn why Gov. Deval Patrick has been so willing to risk his entire governorship to fight for a proposal that will lead to increased crime, increased gambling addiction, and rises in the divorce and suicide rates — social ills all well documented by Casinofacts.org.

I don't think it's because his wife's law firm stands to benefit, although that is a pretty blatant conflict of interest. He must know by now that he was sold a bill of goods in terms of the number of construction jobs and the extent of the revenues that would come in. My best guess is that, deep down, he knows he made a terrible mistake, but he can't publicly admit he's wrong.

House Speaker Sal DiMasi, a casino opponent who's been reasonably diplomatic about the governor's three-casino fiasco, signals that he may finally be ready to bring down the hammer, mocking Patrick's ludicrous claim that the casinos will create 30,000 construction jobs (Globe story here; Herald story here).

Meanwhile, consider this post at Blue Mass Group by Lynne, who blogs at Left in Lowell and who is the sort of idealistic progressive activist who propelled Patrick to his rousing victory in 2006. Lynne's anger and disappointment are palpable, as she accuses Patrick of "lying" to advance his agenda. Specifically, she cites his factually incorrect claim that if the state fails to get out in front on the casino issue, Native American tribes will be able to move ahead anyway, with no state regulation or benefits.

As Lynne rightly points out, federal law only allows tribal facilities that are in compliance with state law. If the state does not legalize casino gambling, then the most the Native Americans can do is open a glorified bingo parlor. Lynne writes:

I know that being disappointed in your leaders is par for the course in politics. I just thought this time might be a little different. Patrick has decided to hang his hat on bringing casinos to Massachusetts, ignoring large swaths of objective information, and using fear and lies to accomplish it. But it's this last part that I may not be able to forgive.

Why is Gov. Patrick doing this? His proposal is guaranteed to end badly: He'll lose or, much worse, he'll win. Is there no one who can talk sense to him?  MediaNation. 
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Tribe rebuffs Patrick, pursues U.S. casino OK

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe won’t be jumping on Gov. Deval Patrick’s casino bandwagon, for now anyway.  Tribal leaders emerged from an hour-long, closed-door huddle with Patrick administration officials on Beacon Hill to say they will press forward with their quest for a full-fledged tribal casino.  The governor wants the tribe to drop its bid to win federal approval for a sovereign tribal reservation in Middleboro on which to build a $1 billion casino. The gaming resort, on tribal land, would not pay state or local taxes and would be exempt from many rules and regulations.

Patrick has instead urged the tribe to pursue its gambling ambitions under his plan to build three casino resorts across the state, all of which would be on the tax rolls.  But tribal leaders made clear yesterday that, for now, they don’t plan to switch tracks...

Still, the tribe’s determination to push forward comes as Patrick also warned that the Mashpee Wampanoags’ quest to build a tribal casino means that expanded gambling is coming to the Bay State, one way or another. The governor has argued the state should get ahead with its own plan, instead of letting the tribe dictate terms...  Herald.