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What’s in a name - or not in a name?

Feb 20th, 2008 by Taylor Armerding

George Orwell may be gone, but his prophetic vision lives on, in our continued quest to name things in ways that will obscure their real intent. You know, if you want to let union advocates intimidate workers by forcing them to “vote” for or against a union in front of them, instead of the privacy of a voting booth, you call it The Employee Free Choice Act. If you favor abortion, you call it “choice.” If you favor gay marriage, you call it “civil rights.” And the most recent example comes from a coalition of mayors, town leaders, labor unions and the owners of Suffolk Downs, who have joined to put pressure on lawmakers to support Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal to establish three resort casinos in Massachusetts. Read about it here.
This is all about expanding gambling to provide more money for government so it can grow even bigger, even faster than it already is. So what do you think they’ve named their coaltion? Is it The Massachusetts Coalition to Expand Gambling? The Massachusetts Casino Coalition? No. Surprise, surprise - “gambling,” “casino” or even “gaming” are nowhere to be found. It’s called the Massachusetts Coalition for Jobs and Growth.
Just another small example of honesty and transparency in government.

Posted in Massachusetts politics, Municipal meltdown, State issues, Taylor Armerding | Comments

  • jacrlsn
    It should also be labelled another expansion of government that is not doing the things it should be doing like protecting us and maintaining our roads, bridges etc. More and more we are being shown that our government is into areas that they should not be, and it is greatly diminishing its effectiveness in the true functions of government. Now our food inspections are weak or non-existant i.e. the meat packing fiasco and now we learn retail stores aren't being inspected also because of a lack of resources. ha-ha. The endowments of our University are under attack, for heavens sake, Harvards endowment is bigger than our state budget.
    WE SHOULD VOTE ALL OF THE INCUMBENTS OUT, SINCE THE COURTS AND OUR LEGISLATURE WON'T ALLOW US TO LIMIT TERMS ANY OTHER WAY.
  • bilge rat
    From a personal standpoint, I have no problem with a casino in Mass. I have never been to Foxwoods, but I have been to Mohegan Sun several times, and it was not for gambling. In fact, I have never gambled there.

    We attended some of the WNBA games and it was a wonderful family trip. Every game was sold out. The tickets were extremely reasonably at $25.00 per person. The arena where the Connecticut Suns play is clean and well designed. There is not a bad seat in the house. The basketball game itself was excellent. After the games we went to dinner and did a little shopping in the mall. Everyone had a great time and we are planning to attending more games this season. The kids also attended a "mini-concert" after one of the games, for no additional cost, by one of the most popular pop bands in the music industry today, the Jonas Brothers. For those of you who have kids or grandkids, you know who they are and how hard it is to get tickets!

    I apologize for rambling, but my point is casinos can offer additional entertainment options, such as concerts and/or sporting events. You don't need to be into gaming to enjoy the other options available.

    I strongly agree that Taxachusetts will not spend the revenues wisely. Given the legislatures' track record, how could anyone argue otherwise? It is sad, though, that we may not have a casino because of the greed, incompetence, and lack of leadership in the legislature.

    BTW, troll alert, post #2.
  • Harry Birmingham
    Casinos have there pro and con thoughts with the public and will always have them. What gets me is that all those who go out of state spend their monies there and not here . I can't see three casinos being built or the size of them. What I can see is one well built in size with resort attraction in the Salisbury Beach area or near to the coastal area. I know I'll be criticized for this statement but I do have my right of opinion . This area has the highway access to make it possible from all directions. Out of state visitors would be contributing to the economy of the state and local governments and we can stop sending our money to other states with gambling "emporiums". The area I suggest is far better than the Boston and western areas of the state as now being proposed and far enough away from the presently established casinos to compete for the gambling dollar . The three casino thinking is self defeating because of the placement of them and the competition it creates within the state. If we are to have a casino[s] then it be best to beat New Hampshire to the punch before they start putting in slots and then opening a casino of their own.
  • Uncle Bunky
    I hope someone could tell our governor he works for massachusetts and until work starts getting done I suggest you keep your personal bungles and mbta employees personal lives out of the news. Stop campaigning for hopless pesidential candidantes who thing showing up counts and not breaking a sweat for a paycheck. Eithery or someone needs to resign in this state.
  • Uncle Bunky
    I hope someone could tell our governor he works for massachusetts and until work starts getting done I suggest you keep your personal bungles and mbta employees personal lives out of the news. Stop campaigning for hopless pesidential candidantes who thing showing up counts and not breaking a sweat for a paycheck. Eithery or someone needs to resign in this state.
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