A bad bet in Massachusetts

Beacon Hill, desperate for more - always more - revenue, is looking to bring casinos to the land of Puritans. Boston Globe: "Gambling, by any name, is a tax on suckers"

Casinos mean sharp increases in bankruptcies and domestic violence. Addiction leads to higher crime and suicide rates. The children of gambling addicts are more likely to suffer from physical abuse and more likely to turn to tobacco, drugs, and alcohol.

Still, advocates argue, whatever the downside, "gaming" means gleaming "new revenue" for the state.

"New revenue," though, is just casino-speak for a new tax: a sucker tax on those willing to plunk down cash on tables tilted sharply toward the pit bosses. A sucker tax on those willing to sit at slot machines ergonomically designed to keep players in thrall of the lights and levers for hours at a time - complex algorithms creating the illusion of near-victory as wallets empty.

Grabbing some of the cash from Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos in Connecticut has become an obsession for Boston pols. There's nary a thought for the Massachusetts citizens who must give up their paychecks and Social Security checks to support such an operation. Nor do they really care about the low-wage jobs created or the ancillary businesses that follow casinos. So, yes, there will be more blackjack dealers, pawn shops owners, "escort" services, gambling counselors, and security officers - paid out of Junior's college tuition fund.

Is this the kind of society we want to build, Massachusetts?