Springsteen shouldn’t shill for Christie

March 27, 2012 3:41 pm

Gov. Christie wants Bruce Springsteen to perform a concert at the new Revel Casino at Atlantic City. The governor is a big Springsteen fan, but the Boss should not sing for Christie or the Revel.

After all, the Revel stands for everything Springsteen has spent his career railing against. In particular, Springsteen’s new album – featuring the hit single “We Take Care of Our Own” – was inspired by his outrage at the cozy ties between Washington and Wall Street, and the greed that led to the economic collapse that cost many their homes and jobs.

The Revel Casino is a monument to those cozy ties between government and Wall Street. After all, Christie used $261 million in state tax credits to bail out private investors in the $2.4 billion Revel. Those investors included Morgan Stanley, the Wall Street bank that walked away from the half-built casino but now stands to profit after Christie’s bailout. (No mention of that in Christie’s Tweets encouraging Springsteen to play at the Revel.

At the same time, Revel plans to impose term limits on some employees by requiring them to reapply for their jobs after four to six years. This will keep a cap on salaries and enable Revel to weed out cocktail servers who are not young and sexy enough.

More to the point, the Revel’s business model profits by luring hard working people to gamble away their money against steep odds. Those down on their luck types are the people Springsteen has chronicled over the years. The Boss touched on this in his new song ”Shackled and Drawn” when he sang:

Gambling man rolls the dice

Workingman pays the bill

It’s still fat and easy up on banker’s hill

Up on banker’s hill, the party’s going strong

Down here below we’re shackled and drawn

So while the notion of Springsteen playing Atlantic City is exciting at first blush, the Boss owes Christie and the Revel nothing. If anything, Springsteen should sing for the long lines outside the soup kitchen that one sees as they exit the AC Expressway and enter the long-struggling Jersey Shore town.

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