DevalWatch: Casino Plan Dead on Arrival?

We can barely muster the energy to post again about the great 2008 casino debate. If only we could focus on the important issues facing our society, like the profound need for healthier donuts.

The buzz today is about meetings that Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi has been having with fellow lawmakers in advance of next week's casino hearings. Pro-casino forces claim that DiMasi is "strong-arming colleagues into killing the proposal."

Here's a summary of the last six months of debate: the Commonwealth, like almost every state government, needs money. Governor Deval Patrick ran as a progressive, agent of change candidate, so he has a particular need for money to run new programs. He saw casinos as a way of generating revenue. DiMasi and his cohorts are less optimistic about the plan's revenue generating possibilities, and are concerned about bringing a "casino culture" to the Bay State.

All of that is fine. We need money, but not all money is created equal, and maybe the consequences of this outweigh the dollar signs.

That being said, unless DiMasi is just completely intimidated by Governor Patrick's rhetorical genius, why can't his fellow reps and we constituents be treated like adults on this proposal? Present your case next week, let us examine the numbers--let people smarter than us examine the numbers--and try to explain why casinos would damage the moral fabric of our Commonwealth. If your case is worthwhile, it'll be just as presentable in public as behind closed doors.