Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

Nothing in this world can be said to be certain, Ben Franklin noted in a letter to a friend, except death and taxes. And, he should have noted, there's one more thing: Every new governor of Massachusetts looks at casino gambling as a potential source of revenue. Daniel O'Connell, the state's secretary of housing and economic development, confirmed in an interview with The Republican that Gov. Deval L. Patrick plans to create a commission to study whether Massachusetts should legalize casino gambling. O'Connell said the commission will have members from different parts of the state, including someone from Western Massachusetts. Here's a suggestion: Put some slot machines in Richmond. Think of all the jobs it would create for neighboring Pittsfield, where the unemployment rate is 5 percent. And the governor could stop in and drop a few coins in the machines on his way to his spacious vacation home in Richmond. But first, here's another suggestion: Check with Attorney General Martha Coakley before doing anything. She cautions that the state might be creating an environment for crime to prosper if it expands gambling. As the state's top law enforcement officer, her opinion is important. "I have no moral compunction against it," she told reporters last week. "I just think that people always see it as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And I'm here to say, as someone who's been a prosecutor ... the pot doesn't have as much gold in it as people think." With the promise of huge payoffs in revenue and jobs, it is certainly tempting. Yet it would be dangerous to mistake casinos for economic development. For one, the jobs and revenue would come much too late to help the governor with his deficit, which he estimates at $1 billion. More important, giving the people of Massachusetts a place to gamble because the state can use the revenue is no different than urging people to smoke because the state can use the revenue from the cigarette tax. The governor should focus his energies on what can be done to discourage businesses from leaving Massachusetts, and what can be done to help businesses here expand.