As Massachusetts moves closer to legalizing commercial casinos, a Boston Globe reporter detailed some of the many problems that arose after Pennsylvania legalized gambling in 2004.
Call it The (New) Philadelphia Story. Unlike the 1940 romantic comedy starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart, this Philadelphia story is a sad cautionary tale about the state’s misguided foray into gambling.
To be sure, the state has raked in a bundle of tax revenue from casinos. But those billions were extracted mainly from the pockets of residents who left the casinos poorer. As the Globe reporter rightly discovered, the financial success of the casinos was built on a foundation of cronyism, patronage, and back-room deals, not to mention overlooked criminal histories and alleged mob ties, according to a grand jury report released earlier this year.
A quick scan of the reader comments at the end of the story shows that many Globe readers expect the same sleazy wheeling and dealing to take place in Massachusetts as it partners with the gambling industry.
